


The Marriage of Mew

by Mimiga



Series: Melancholy of the Fox [2]
Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: F/M, PMD, PSMD, Post-Game Storyline, Post-Post-Game Storyline, Read Ears first you infidel, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-08-08 20:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 237,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7771954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimiga/pseuds/Mimiga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <img/><br/></p>
</div>It wasn't quite a foreign concept here to love and be loved, but the word Vallion had found was beyond just that. And with that word he had cultivated a plan, gathered his courage and the necessary ingredients, and all that remained to find now was the perfect moment. Even if it was unlikely anything would be different in the end, even if it was a ritual more for humans than anything, could there possibly be a more fitting word than this one he shouldn't know at all? Not that it mattered, anyway. He was already years deep into the gambit as it is. At this point, there was very little left on the planet that could keep him from this Braixen. (SPOILERS: PSMD, PMD:GtI, Ears)
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wane

The heart of Serene Village laid splattered with countless exaggerated shadows from the declining sun. Its small cluster of buildings stretched beyond their height and countered the sinking orange light with their dark blue imprints. The water's distant surface worked as a mirror to reflect an unveiled ceiling of stars, which had only just become visible from the far horizon to directly above them. It was still somewhat astonishing how similar this view was to what it had been so many years ago. Panne could hardly spot more than a few differences, most of which were minor at best and retained to the slight expansion of the school and center. Nobody could really explain how this little outpost, however insignificant and out-of-the-way it was, dodged the relentless pursuit of change. 

Not that she really minded it had slipped by progress for this long. Rather, it seemed like some strange wonder to be appreciated and preserved instead of improved. There weren't many places left in all the Water Continent that were quite as humble as this. Despite every paragraph of history that transpired less than two days away, and of every little advancement taken place on the same landmass, there was perhaps only a handful of people that had come or gone from the village, and hardly anything different with the houses people lived in. She reveled in that the vista was practically the same as it was when she gazed from it as an aspiring little Fennekin, ready to throw the entire world onto a piece of paper for all to see. Part of her wished to reach across those eight years when the thought had first began to bloom, if only to simply say that she did. 

Panne pressed the Servine's head deeper beneath her chin and squeezed a little tighter, leaning more on him than the tree they sat against. It did feel a little strange to be sitting up here without a wandering mind for the future. This hallowed spot was for deep ravines of self-introspection and for finding inspiration in wayward ideas, or at least for a nice view if ever she needed one to cheer up from a bad day. But she stared down now with a bittersweet taste stuck in her mouth, left from what should have been the most fulfilled stretch of time to ever occur in her life. It almost felt as though she were wasting something precious by being up here while so unshakably sour. 

Mainly, she wracked her brain trying to figure out why it felt so bad to have finally mapped out the globe's entire surface. With how ecstatic she recalled being when Ampharos finally made the announcement, it could only be compared to a sugar high that had already passed into its lowest point. Panne supposed it was to be expected that completing lifelong goals in less than a decade would throw pretty much anyone for a loop, but the feeling of sheer satisfaction had worn out not even a week after the fact. There was just so much substance to the bone-breaking work she and the Society had put in, everything had merely equalized in perspective once it was all said and done. Even if it meant their names were surely promised in textbooks for generations to come. Most people could hardly muster this kind of relevance as the sum of their entire lives. The question rose to the surface again. 

"Hey Val," she whispered closely to the beloved form in her lap. "I know I already asked this, but uh.. What do we do now? Now that we've pretty much ran out of things to do at the Society, I can't think of anything. It's not like we can help Floatzel much in that ocean geography thing. I can't even hang out at the beach without spending most of my time up in the sand being allergic, let alone dive two miles underwater and somehow record what the landscape looks like." 

"I mean, we could technically still help out with that. There's going to be plenty of supplies going back and forth on land, even if we can't take part in the project itself," Vallion's soft voice could be felt rumbling through the both of them as he spoke. "And there's still plenty we could be doing at the Society. It's becoming a university for goodness sake, in a place like Lively City for that matter. Now is likely the most active it's been since Dark Matter had us scrambling while the world was being thrown into the sun. I'm sure Ampharos would appreciate the help, you can't really be a headmaster unless there are people to be master over." 

She blew a haughty breath from her nose. "But I don't want to be a professor. Not to sound too difficult or anything, but I don't really care much for every single nook and cranny under every sea, either. It's just that there's so much time to spend now, and I really don't have any clue exactly HOW to. Like hell am I going to retire before I've finished evolving." 

"We could at least take it a little easier for now, right? Being dissatisfied with sitting around is one thing, but we've very nearly gotten ourselves killed in countless occasions trying to be as efficient as possible. I'd actually really like to take a nice break from being an adventurer at all, you know? Especially after these grueling final few months, my god. I'm not sure if I stopped hurting or just got used to it." 

"Yeah. I'm not talking about right this instant, but a little more down the road where there's nothing. Or really, what road we should be looking at next, since this one sort of ended already." Panne glanced over to countless blades of grass at the base of the hill, watching as the final shadows steadily crept to smother them all. The pause between them brought forth something close to deja vu that only made more sense the longer she thought on it. Finally was there something that summarized why she had felt empty and frightened at all. "I just don't want to turn out like... like that Serperior did once, back at Poliwrath River. Aren't we kind of in the same boat as they were, just a little earlier on the downward slope?" 

A chuckle barely more than a cough rose from his throat. "That's a pretty extreme case to jump to, don't you think? We've barely just accomplished what we set out to do. It took Alexander years upon years after that to start being warped by stagnation. I think we've got plenty of time to avoid that fate." She felt his vines shift an up inch through her coat, hanging loosely still around her waist. "Besides, we're far from the kind of people they were. I personally haven't got much more than a single thread of ambition in me after all that we've been through. I've got no problem with handing off the whole 'revolutionary future' thing to someone else." 

"I'm sure they never meant or thought for those things to happen. Not that they were any less to blame, but from what I remember, the actions leading up to what they did weren't unprecedented. And while we are absolutely different personality-wise, a lot can change about a person if something drastic happens and the schedule they've had most of their lives is no longer. Who's to say that we won't eventually end up like they did?" 

"I say. And you say. It's just as easy for us to take what we learned from their grave mistakes and try our best not to repeat them. That's the entire point of learning about history, isn't it?" Vallion tightened his backwards hug to emphasize the certainty of his voice, like he was trying to squeeze the stress from her body. "Just trust me, we aren't going to end up anywhere near as dangerous a path as they tried to walk, but we will keep walking." It was mostly the setting which made that promise more concrete and allowed her to slump just a little closer to relaxing. Almost anything they could say atop this hill couldn't be made any more genuine than if they were being held at death's door. 

"Mmm. Maybe not," Panne said, touching the thin patch of fur on her chest where scar tissue had transcended evolution. The slightest bubble of laughter somehow found its way up her own core. "You know, it's kinda funny. It's the days where I wake up and have no responsibilities that I'm scared of the most. Just imagining myself sitting around wasting all my free time by desperately thinking of ways to intelligently use that free time makes me all anxious." 

The Servine's breath brushed against her shoulder as he turned his head. "Well we'll just have to figure something out, won't we? This is a pretty huge transitional point in our lives. There's never anything wrong with taking a moment and looking for the next direction you want to go. The worse alternative is rushing ahead and committing to something you didn't even mean to, so just relax a little. Even if it's a little frightening, we've more than earned this little respite, hm?" 

Above, the starry darkness began to infect even more of the surrounding sky with twinkling wonder, leaving only a great blanket of shadow to drape over the village and everything else in sight. Heat had already began to dissipate into the cold purples and abyssal blues, warranting the two to huddle closer and ward away the night. "What is it that you want to do, then? If you're so adamant about it." Panne's muzzle spoke into his sleekness and found its lost grin. 

"I would say 'anything you want to do', but I'm not allowed to use that excuse anymore, am I?" he said and hummed, his gears grinding away at the impressive size of the question. It would take a few more silent moments of the other's company before an answer would come to be, and a stuttering one at that. "Um.. Well I don't really know if it's a long term kind of thing, per say. Or, uh, I suppose it technically would be... In any case, it's a secret." 

"Hey! That's no fair!" Unfortunately for him, Panne was already in prime position to restrain his movements and scritched a playful claw across his side. The resulting yelp and jerk would bring them both to the ground, their entwined bodies more than willing to be tossed about if it meant that they might not need to separate. A fit of childish laughter overcame the both of them shortly after as the grass rustled beneath, for that was the nature of this place. "You're lucky I'm a kinetic psychic type, or I'd just go in and get it myself." 

Despite having been pressed to the ground and teased, Vallion craned his neck to rub cheeks with her. "Oh come now. You wouldn't do that kind of thing even if you could. You'd get all guilty and apologize for days." 

"You hush. That wouldn't change the fact that I'd have found out," she snapped quietly back, reciprocating his affectionate advances all the same. Gravity pulled their embrace to tumble over one another, but it had little effect in actually breaking it apart. They rummaged about beside the tree's hardness as little games were invented on the spot that didn't make use of their clinging arms and vines. Impulsive sweet nothings poured from their tongues like the summer's fragrant rains, tapping against the dusty ground with giggles and breathy exclamations of surprise. Soon enough this clumsy dance would reach an incidental point where they were simply too comfortable to continue, instead finding it mutually preferable to lay facing one another with the hill's slope at their feet, pressing their belly into the other's and weaving together foreign tails. 

Panne had to admit, she did feel a lot better after having come up here. It was already difficult to stay tense gazing from this spot while alone, but it was virtually impossible when she was with him also. The radiant feeling her quickened little heart pumped through every vein was one that could convince her of anything. The power this Servine's voice and touch held on her even now-- it would hardly take much of a push to have her kill for him, and she wasn't going to pretend she hadn't accidentally gotten close in the past. "..Is the secret at least cool?" the Braixen cracked their loving silence, feeling the movement of her jaw touch the very tips of their noses together. 

He opened his eyes a smidgen and scooted closer so that the ends of their faces were touching completely. "I think it's the coolest thing that's not already you, if that's what you mean." 

"Pfft. You're so cheesy." Panne motioned her own snout to slip underneath his, effectively moving an inch closer to his waiting mouth. "But does that mean the secret is cooler than sitrus berry smoothies and the aurora borealis?" 

"Much cooler." 

"But when are you going to tell me about it?" 

The distance closed between their mouths as heads twisted to accommodate the other, though it was impossible to tell which leaned in first. Ill-fitting were the maws that lacked lips and had been designed for efficiency, yet it never grew old to feel the corners of their grins come together in the closest locking of their faces. She tasted his familiarity, grazed her tongue over his sharp teeth but didn't feel pain, and chased his own thinner tongue with unabashed expression. There was little exploration involved that wasn't intentionally to bring about a cute noise, for they had already claimed this territory from the other plenty of times in the past. This was neither the first, nor the last kiss they would indulge in on his solemn hill. 

Vallion was the one to finally pull away, a satisfied and glazed look in his eyes was the first thing she noticed upon opening her own. "Short answer: soon. More accurately, when the time is right. Kinda like now, but a little more prepared I suppose. You'll definitely at least get kick out of it. But, uh-" His nose turned towards the dark sky. "It's got late really fast. The sun was still going down not long ago, but I can hardly even see it anymore. We should probably head back before we end up missing dinner. Your Pops will have both our heads if we miss his cooking on the very first day we're even back." 

Their struggle to stand was brimming with warm reluctance despite the opposing chill that had spread itself across the land and started to bite at their extremities. The only thing that wasn't sluggish about her was the racing heart in her chest, refreshed to have been overcome with such wonderful emotion. Panne glanced out over the twilit village one last time and felt that same sensation flare up more intensely like a well-fed fire. She had come up here under the weight of several gnawing thoughts, and here she left arm-in-arm with a stupid grin on her face and a resisted urge to put a spring in her step. The concentration she used to traverse down the steep grassy slope did little to deter her from that resurgence of joy. 

Their short trek back was filled with idle conversation, if only because they had a heightened enjoyment of the other's soft voice. It helped that the atmosphere of the cozy town had been rendered completely silent by the evening's ending. Not a pokemon stirred in sight as their hushed walk passed by where warm greetings would usually have been. It seemed most everyone had already retired for the night. Even the energetic youth were pulled swiftly back into their homes, though she couldn't really know how strict their guardians were. 

Her introspection halted completely with her feet as they passed by the brightened window of Meowstic's small house. Vallion continued on for a few more feet before realizing there was no one beside him. 

"You think she's awake yet?" Panne muttered once the Servine finally twisted wordlessly around to see what was the matter. "We've seen nearly everyone today besides Meowstic, and it just occurred to me that it's gotten underneath my nerves we haven't been able to wish her well. I get that she's sick and probably needs rest and all, but why can't we stop by for just a second to say hello? I mean, the lights are on and everything." 

Vallion shrugged as best his serpentine body could manage. "Sure, if she's up for it. I was just going to wait until tomorrow to see if she got any better, but I suppose there isn't much harm in doing it now..." He tapped his chin, having to weigh his thoughts of the likes of a mere brief visit. "We might need to binge on a little more Vitamin C than usual tonight if we do. I don't want us to get sick on the very first day of our vacation." 

"Oh, whatever. I don't mind a little cold. It's just for a moment, anyway," she said before starting towards the thick wooden door and winding up to give it three mighty knocks. Or at least three knocks she meant to be mighty, as their impacts hardly managed to even shake the door, and subsequently left a stinging across her hand. Maybe Panne should ask her to invest in some of those brass knockers you see on huge gates so that this kind of thing didn't happen. That would probably work better than having to crack your skull on the wood just to make an audible noise. 

There was no hasty response. Or at least, there wasn't one anyone else who was unfamiliar with the resident of the home would expect. A gentle presence did make itself somewhat apparent on the fringes of her mind, like they were standing knowingly with a third invisible person this whole time. A voice tickled the insides of her ears but made no sound. 'You'd think that a legendary explorer would have a little more than the girly hands you do. Come on in, guys.' 

Unphased by the psychic connection, Panne pushed open the heavy slab of an entrance and immediately caught a powerful whiff of herb and spice, followed by a jarring transition into stuffy heat from the sparse night air. The place had been rearranged since the last time she had seen it, but it seemed candles were still her favored light source. But the changes extended only as much as the time it took to get a decent glance around, where thick books lined the same shelves and a crude sanded table stood in the same place as the room's center. The general cleanliness of it all also hadn't faltered a bit, either. The Braixen could venture to say that Meowstic was the most consistent throughout the years of all others that have lived in the village. 

"I had heard you guys were back in town, but I hadn't been able to move more than a few feet at a time. Kinda hard to see for myself if I can't get out my own house," the strange voice came from the farthest right of the door, revealing a corner greatly contrasting from the rest of the house. Meowstic sat surrounded by mismatched blankets in a cushioned chair at least twice her height. Beside the seat was a tall table positively littered with glasses and mugs of all shapes and sizes, some even looked to have had used two pouches of tea for a single drink. The only one of them all still steaming was what the psychic type held now. Catching onto the worried looks, she continued with that same distorted pitch. "Yeah, the place is a bit of a mess. I've probably already drank an entire garden by now and my throat still feels like a family of Sandslash burrowed into it." 

"Holy hell, are you alright?" Vallion exclaimed, likely referring to both the disheveled white fur which stuck in any direction it pleased and how she did indeed sounded like ground types lived in her vocal cords. Now that they were getting a closer look, her eyes were frighteningly tired and bloodshot. The deceptive telepathy she used just moments ago told absolutely nothing of this sorry state. 

In a typical fashion, Meowstic shrugged dismissively. "More or less, I suppose. It's certainly no flu, but I'd probably rather be dead regardless." A short surge of coughing split apart her words for a few gruesome moments before her throat could be partly cleared. "How have you two been doing? I haven't seen you two in quite a while, which is pretty significant since not many people actually visit me. Mapping out the entire planet's surface is no small feat, among saving it and everyone that ever existed anyway. Kind of funny how that goes." 

"It's been fairly interesting so far. Not at all what I would have expected while still working away at the digital and physical maps," Panne mused as she gave the best smile could manage, which still felt pretty strange when directed towards someone who looked more unconscious than awake. "I did predict that the high would eventually fade away, but it ended up happening months earlier than I thought. I'm not even halfway through my life and I've already accomplished what I set out to do, you know? There was never really meant to be any goals after that." 

"Yeah, I can see how that would leave you a little hollow. You two are already global historical figures of some of the highest degrees, so being famous and successful twice probably wouldn't have the same ring to it. Still better to have too much life left to live than the alternative, though." Meowstic took a disproportionately massive gulp of the mug in her hands like she had suddenly started dying of thirst from just talking. After having taken the breathless moment to drain the entire container, she placed it with the others and let loose a disgruntled sigh before softening. "I also see that your relationship is still going strong. That's also pretty great, considering most couples after a few years don't have much of a spark left. You won't see most start spontaneously banging on a hill as you two nearly did." 

It took several seconds for Panne to comprehend what was said, very soon feeling entire tides of embarrassment crash into her cheeks and raise the room's temperature ten degrees. The very air had been stolen from her lungs, and that silence would have turned to stammering and stomping had Vallion not already raised attention to himself, very clearly becoming a deep crimson from lack of fur. "Guilty. I'm.. still thinking about it. Sorry." 

"Among other things, apparently," the feline continued, a sly grin barely dawning across her face from their reactions. "That does seem like a fairly interesting concept you're stewing up there, Vallion. If a little strange. I've certainly never heard of a ritual quite as superstitious and flashy as that. It's actually pretty adorable you would think that way about her." 

Now it was he who couldn't stow the panic that washed across his face, motioning frantically for her to cease the sensitive subject and repeatedly shushing the giggling pokemon to no avail. Panne didn't know about the archaic topic the psychic type had just unearthed, nor did she particularly hear much of it after having raised her own volume. "Alright, everyone just stop it! Knock it off!" She pointed to Meowstic blamingly. "You, quit snooping around in his brain!" Then finally to her shrinking lover. "And you, put away those lewd thoughts right now! I will not have you thinking about that kind of stuff anywhere near my Pops!" They didn't need to peer through her coat to know of the blood that rushed to the tips of her ears. 

Meowstic waved her arms in apologies, her laughter quickly transitioning into another nasty bout of coughing that still managed to pierce through their flustered demeanor and pull sympathy from their chests. She continued the notion she had only barely began once her lungs had seen her suffering fit. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! It's just been a good while, there's a lot for me to catch up on and I haven't had any time at all to do it. And not that it really excuses me much, but it's fairly difficult for me to control myself with how little sleep I've gotten despite having tried all day. Telepathy isn’t easy to deafen when you yourself can hardly even keep from falling over." 

"Ah, is the cold getting to you that badly?" Vallion asked with a sigh of relief at the forefront of his words. 

"No, no, not at all. Actually, I'm dead tired because of that and would normally have passed out hours ago if it had been up to me. Except that I've been getting some pretty terrible nightmares to keep that from happening," she motioned to the darkness around her eyes and subsequently slumped deeper into her chair. "They're usually very strange, and intensely vivid as well. The kind that make you suspicious whether or not they're vague predictions of the future or something like that. Ugh, this allergy season is terrible." 

Panne tilted her head. "Wait, allergies? I don't think I've ever heard of someone getting nightmares from just allergies before. Fever dreams are one thing, but doesn't hay fever technically have nothing to do with them?" 

The feline shrugged, reaching for a mug she had already depleted and finding visible disappointment after having discovered that fact. "I don't know. It comes and goes kind of like allergies, but I don't usually have them so badly that they incapacitate me like this. And weird dreams are associated with them, but again, this instance has been particularly miserable. This might very well just be a combination of both at once, and a little bit of terrible luck." One more fit of coughing sealed her words, followed by a gag, pause, and exasperated groan. 

It was in the Braixen's nature to step forth and place the back of her hand onto Meowstic's forehead. While true that she was burning up, that might just as easily have been due to the fact that she was beneath two blankets and had just tanked through an entire serving of freshly-made tea. "Like I said, Val. We're going to have to load up on citrus fruits tonight. There's no need to let this bug spread around on the very first day of our vacation." 

"H-Hey, but that's what I said!" 

A psychic murmur deafened his complaints in both their ears, transmitting a more perfect rendition of an otherwise ravaged voice. 'We should continue this chat later. I've been up for a while just to drink a little bit more fluids, but my body has pretty much given up on me at this point. Say hi to everyone for me and tell them that I'm doing sorta well, they don't really like it when I inject thoughts into their heads for a greeting.' 

Their departure was quickened, as by the time they had gotten around to delivering their own farewells, Meowstic was already beginning to snore and slip very nearly completely beneath the stolen covers of her bedroom. Even the telepathic link had made more of a sizzling sound than how it was supposed to fade away. Poor girl, she really must have been going through a terrible time while everyone else had been meeting them with distant shouts of surprise and congratulations. Of course, Panne's crossed empathy extended about as far as stepping back into a mild summer's night and feeling her eyes abruptly adjust to the deepened blackness, where she had found surprise rather than holding onto the sorrowful thought. The short minute they had spent in that house caused them to miss the night intensifying twofold. 

The door fell back into place with an incredible thud, frightening the Braixen to the point of jumping two feet into the air and yelping as a dauntless legendary explorer would. Either noise could have woken someone up, not that she needed another person in addition to Vallion chuckling uncontrollably. In any case, the growling of his stomach thoroughly pierced her expense and reminded that hunger had taken full residence in their hollow stomachs. Also that they were getting progressively more late. Sucking in a breath of chilled air, Panne snatched up his short hand and tugged with urgency deeper into the village. "Oh man, I thought it was only going to be for a minute! We're definitely going to miss dinner if we don't hurry up! C'mon!" 

She felt the temporary hesitance that kept his feet planted melt away as they began to charge up through the town. They passed by houses filled with people they knew, turned corners that had become such muscle memory that this dimness had little effect, and a sudden pang of nostalgia had struck true to her heart. Panne's hurried steps began to slow, turning gradually into a hasty walk until finally making an unwarranted stop just outside the window's light of Carracosta's home, just barely hesitating herself right before their destination. Her breathing became heavier as the love that had tugged her veins beneath the tree resurfaced. Vallion made a murmur of confusion as she faced him and grabbed the both of his hands. Not even the wafting smell of delicious foods could break the spell of her own tender lethargy. 

Not a drop of this mood was to be wasted. Once the distance between their mouths closed again, the Servine found the answer as to why they were standing there. Their kiss ended up being much shorter and less interactive than the first, but the following embrace pointing their gazes down and foreheads together did well to portray the eruption of sentimentality that had overcome her. "I love you, too," Vallion whispered without her having to say anything, and the world paused to perpetuate this one instant. Every noteworthy experience she tried to recall of this tiny stretch of town, good or bad, came rushing back in the silence. 

"Panne." 

She cried out and retreated from Vallion's grasp, for that wasn't his booming rasp. At some point Pops had clamored to the window and peered out at them, his great shadow having gone unnoticed in the moment. "I hate to break your little moment up, but I told you dinner would be ready before dark. You'll have plenty of time later, but I will absolutely not let the food go cold from waiting." 

The Carracosta left from view after having delivered his message, and the Braixen found her shoulders slumping once more. In a volume barely audible between the two of them, she turned back to the Servine. "Ooh, thank god he's such a softie. If he had caught us even just walking back instead of that, we'd be hearing it for the next week. That was so close.." 

After having picked up her composure off the ground and stored away the sappiness, they finally got around to chasing the drifting savory odor and entered through into the coziness of the home. It was the immediate veritable buffet splayed before their eyes that would catch every ounce of their salivation and attention. Still steaming generously were pastas soaked in plentiful sauces and rolls of bread not twenty minutes from the oven, butter already melting into the spongy textures. There were berry spreads and salted almonds and seemingly any kind of well-seasoned grilled vegetable they could ever crave. It was within Panne's interest to preserve this saccharine fog that had rolled into her chest, but there were few things on the planet that could take precedent over the point-blank scent of Pops' irresistible cooking. 

And there was Nuzleaf, sharing a proud smile at the corner of the table from his own personal contributions to the feast. Though it was not nearly parallel to Carracosta's knowing grin as he took in their agape faces. It had been so long since they last had a proper home meal like this, anticipation practically overrode breathing over top their tongues. 

"Just a little celebratory dinner mixed with a big 'welcome back'. I know you've probably eaten plenty over the past week, but I just couldn't help myself. Any excuse to cook like this, right?" Pops' humble chuckling quickly became him sighing of reverence. "Goodness me, look at what's happened to my little girl. One blink and she goes off to save the world, another and she's drawn the entire thing from the ground up. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and you're going to have solved all crime, eh?" 

The Braixen strode past the endless platters and took up her father in a sizable but vigorous hug. "Aw come on, Pops. Quit trying to make me cry in front of everyone." Not even his stone shell could keep at bay their cheerfulness in the midst of such a holiday. Even Valllion had softened up somewhat and reached over to give Nuzleaf an awkward show of affection before Panne could rotate there. Nuzleaf specifically had been off on business by the time they had first arrived in the village today, only now appearing to help with the creation of this overwhelming and enticing feast. There was always time for greetings with family before one drowned themselves in gluttony, however, and she had plenty of greetings to spare. 

"Now now, that's enough of that," Carracosta pat her on the shoulder. "I don't need to break into tears, either. This is a huge milestone you two have reached, and I will see to it that no crying of any kind will go on so soon after. And besides, the food is only getting colder the longer we wait. It took far too long for us to get all these ingredients together to just stare at the table longingly." 

They needn't more of a signal than that to sit down and begin. Heartfelt moments aside, the matter of everyone's incredible voracity was at hand, and would promptly be answered by the pressing choice of first bites. A rainbow of flavors fell to each of their greedy hands, either to try new experimental recipes before any others or to steal away with a few mouthfuls of tried-and-true famous ones making a reappearance. There wasn't a single part of the tongue that had gone ignored, no taste that had gone unappreciated in the preparation of it all. At times the fear would rise that even their combined efforts would not be able to finish off a great enough portion. Of course, the next begrudging bite always managed to convince her otherwise. 

No one spoke during the first few minutes, as it was an impossible task to make legible and mannered conversation while heaven had descended before them in the varied forms of peppered cheeses. It wasn't until their stomachs felt like they were about to split asunder from gluttony did they find time between bites to trade a few words. Even then, they couldn't manage more than a few insignificant exchanges for a good few minutes longer. Everyone but Carracosta seemed to have forgotten how to breath naturally with so much to shovel in and savor. It would take until most of the bread had been indiscriminately devoured before one could catch enough air to make whole sentences, but not before the rawst berries were entirely deplenished had they been mildly coherent. 

"Hey Pops," Panne began, inhaling deeply to alleviate at least some of the uncomfortable pressure in her gut. "We went to go see Meowstic before coming here, just because we haven't been able to. And.. How long has she had these weird allergies that give her nightmares? We've never really heard of anything like that before, and she was absolutely ragged with sleep depravity because of them. I was just wondering if someone else knew anything about it." 

It was Nuzleaf who would set aside his appetite to meet the inquiry. "Oh, those? That's, uh, probably a little more than allergies, if that's not too hard to believe," he said, taking a preparatory breath and stretch as he pushed his plate forward. "You could say that there's been a bug going around since last fall, but nobody really noticed it then. All of the dreams we thought were just coincidence, and as we got healthy again it was all forgotten. Then the same thing happens a little while later, and it goes just as quickly. It simply became a thing that happens, and at worst it'll give one sniffles or a sore throat. Meowstic a few days ago told us that she was getting a cold, but I wasn't aware the nightmares were accompanying it, and getting worse at that." 

"What do you think it could be?" Vallion spoke up after having washed down a reluctant but apparently delicious mouthful. "Dream-related illnesses sound suspiciously psychic type in nature. I don't want to discount the possibility that there's actually a weird new pollen floating around, but it's probably smarter to assume some mental influence. It's not like Darkrai decided to travel all the way to the Water Continent and mildly terrorize a tiny town for the last half a year." 

A shrug was given in response. "I mean, all signs do point to an invasion of some kind, but no one has found any evidence to support that. If there were psychic types sneaking around Serene Village and corrupting people's dreams, they'd have to be entirely invisible. I'd personally say that a haunting was to blame, but we ruled that possibility out as well when Simipour went into the barrow to check on the Reuniclus that still lives there. Apparently the same thing has been going on down there for just as long. There were some pretty fundamental issues with how a pollen would affect a ghost type. Mainly that it could at all." 

"Um. Meowstic's going to be okay, right? And we're not going to get some dream plague for having seen her, are we?" Panne had found her limit as well, and the conversation a perfect excuse to keep from stuffing anything more into her face. It also stood firm that whatever had been circulating through the valley was dangerous to its inhabitants. Vacation or not, they were the most well-established rescue team for the next hundred miles. Nothing would threaten this village so long as they hadn't fallen into a food-induced coma. 

"You may or may not have some strange dreams tonight, perhaps an irritating feeling in your throats in the morning. No more than that. Nobody remembers anything particular about them once they awake, anyway." Pops was next to finally gain the willpower to turn away his next bite. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Meowstic's always had a slack immune system, remember that. Even the children here that have shown symptoms were annoyed at best, and you two could probably trudge through a swamp and not have a single cough to show for it." 

The Servine took on a look of contemplation regardless, typical for when something like this arose. As for her, there stood nothing she could think of that would really add fuel to the issue. It was an enigma they'd likely have to encounter themselves to get a better grasp of. Perhaps even tonight, if the problem would be so bold as to make itself apparent. There was nothing confirmed other than its presence among the community, but Panne still felt a twinge of fear that it might be psychic types who were most most susceptible to the anomaly. Meowstic being the only obvious and sickliest example didn't put that unnerving thought to rest at all. 

With that sensitive topic worn out and their bellies ready to stage a rebellion, things quickly began to wind down. They all sluggishly began to clean after the tremendous meal and expedited the process of storing away the still sizable amount of leftovers. That which did need to be stored in cold found its place in an electric cooler that only became more and more overstuffed as the table itself became visible. After the task had been completed, Nuzleaf had given his farewells to us all and started to set off to depart the short distance to his home for the night, but not before pulling Vallion aside and asking him to come along for a moment. Seemingly in the know of something she did not, they took off out the door and slinked from earshot. 

"I can't believe it," Panne began once certain they were the only two to hear. "You finally managed to teach Nuzleaf to cook, and extremely well at that. He really is happier now than he used to be, isn't he? I thought he'd never stop beating himself up." 

"Yes. While he hasn't gotten quite as old as I have, some things come much more painfully into perspective with age. I believe he's finally beginning to understand how much time he wasted trying not to be the villain. Nobody should be wallowing in so much self-pity that the calendar practically melts away. Most people tend to learn how to cook much easier after they realize that." Pops let loose a rich laugh that clashed with the sound of clinking dishes. "I don't want you to go around thinking that you need to be the hero, either. You should know better than anyone the shifting north of a moral compass." 

The labored wait droned on while Vallion was out speaking with his old father figure. When he did return, what also came through the door with him was a new cotton bag tightly in his grasp. It was a small and crude sack tied at the mouth, but he had held it dearly to his chest like it was the finest velvet. Before she could ask exactly what it contained, he had already sped off into the room they would be spending their night in. Pops hardly even noticed the suspicious entrance with how immaculately he stored away cleaned plates and dishes. A smirk colored the Servine's lips as he walked back and saw the curiosity on hers. 

"And what was all that about?" she said, taking strides towards the bedroom without taking her eyes from him. Was that a pinch of nervousness she saw flash across his vision? 

He buried the look and shook his head. "Hey! No peeking, sweetheart. It's part of the secret. And I mean it, or else the surprise will be spoiled completely." Vallion turned back for a moment longer before returning to the bedroom, like he had only come out here again to say so. "We'll tell you if we have any of those nightmares, Carracosta. Goodnight!" Panne huffed at his flighty behavior and chased in after him while shouting similar farewells to her father, who had just finished up and was retiring as well. His bellowing calls echoed to a similar notion, but that of one who gained twice their weight from an overzealous dinner. 

Valion had already found his place among the many blankets and cushions that were strewed about the floor by the time her eyes caught the unsuspecting sack's hiding place. Ideas of what could have been inside sprung from all corners, but she had silently surrendered to whatever grandiose plans he had in store. Certainly there were eyes against her back at this very instant, expecting fully that his big scheme remained hidden until the exact perfect moment. "Fine. You could have probably brought it in more discreetly, though. Darting across the house with it doesn't really make it any less easy to notice." The Braixen turned out the final lights and settled down beside him in the ensuing darkness. 

"Sorry. I got a little excited." Their bodies entwined upon impulse, Vallion's long body holding to its flexible nature and finding a way to curl intimately around hers. She welcomed the position like a flower did Combee, pushing her face beneath his and letting loose a contented rumble from the deep of her throat. Soon their synchronized breathing was the only sound that crept through the room as weariness began to creep in and take hold of their limbs. Panne did try to push the forbidden mystery from her mind during this sinking comfort, but what had taken its place was anxiety of the strange ailment that had arisen while they were gone. What if it really was more potent on pokemon of her type? And if it was, did it matter what variety of psychic type? Or- or... affected or not, she wasn't going to fall asleep agonizing over it. 

"Val.." she gently muttered into his neck. "You think that the worse dreams Meowstic ends up having is because she's a psychic type? I'm scared that the second I get to sleep will be splattered with horrible imagery or something. If it really is a haunting, wouldn't it be right to have a stronger effect on us than anyone else?" 

"Nah, I don't think that's the case. I trust that Reuniclus was being truthful about what was happening in the barrow. It's usually a fairly peaceful place down there. The Litwick we befriended are evolved now, and they have no reason to let other lesser ghosts run rampant and make people's lives worse. Besides, it probably has something more to do with her abilities than just what type of pokemon she is. You don't have much to worry about at all." 

"But- but what if there's a haunting going on that doesn't have to do with the barrow? Nothing that's been going on HAS to have originated from there. Whatever it is could have come from somewhere else looking to feed. I'd rather just stay up than have my dreams eaten by some invisible demon." 

She felt the length of his tongue gingerly lap just behind her ear, the closest thing to a reassuring kiss he could manage. "We don't even know what's been floating around and making people sick yet. For all we can guess, pollen a strange grass type might have truly fallen from the mountain and is playing with people's minds and sinuses. The chance that a bandit group of pokemon has been preying on innocent dreams for the last few months completely undetected is extremely unlikely. You don't think that Meowstic wouldn't have detected them first?" 

"It's not pollen, it can't be. Pokemon in the barrow are getting sick with the rest of us. Whatever it is can't be natural enough to simply drift down on the wind." 

Deeper into his wrap she went, a familiar routine to calm her whenever this kind of thing stole away with her restfulness. "Whatever it is, we can deal with it later. And we WILL deal with it, because I doubt it's anything more than a whisper compared to some of the other things we've braved through. I'm not going anywhere without you. Remember that." 

Finally, the firm body she had pressed into offered a radiating relief which grew more powerful the warmer they became. He was right, after all. For more reasons than what he said in his consolation. Panne peeked out to see the window's crossed shadow be pressed into the wall by the rising moon's bright glare, the same image it always was. The amount of obsessing that had turned sour nights sleepless in this room was more than she could count. To add to that number willingly, and especially during a respite as precious and young as this, was completely worthless. What WAS a few bad dreams to some of the most perilous adventurers that have graced this era of time? This single night of sleep was not.. was not worth wasting over... anything this insignificant... 

...zz... 

...-What? 

From throes of slumber came some semblance of a conscious thought. Her eyes could suddenly be opened if they had so desired to, and intelligent yet groggy processes once more took the forefront of her mind. There was still darkness lying over her eyelids, so it hadn't turned morning quite yet. Why had she awaken? It wasn't until a shuddering cough sounded nearby her ear and reverberated from the sweating figure clutching her that Panne realized the sounds causing her to stir. The puzzle pieces fit slowly together while her systems booted up. She had no dreams at all, and Val was the one to suffer. 

"Hey.. Wake up..!" her murmurs came with a shove to shake him awake. Gentle at first, the nightmare locked him under incredibly tight, and she eventually was forced to throttle him just to hear a gasping yelp emerge. "Val. Are you alright? What happened?" He only continued wheeze as if still trying to catch his breath from being chased. The Servine did eventually manage to catch up with his surroundings and let loose a grunt to clear his mucus-filled throat. 

"Did you get one, too?" he pushed the words out, his voice labored and scratchy. 

"No. I woke up from your coughing. Have you actually gotten sick because of it?" Panne pulled away from their embrace to see the remnants of desperation in his eyes. Whatever was tormenting him seemed to have had a strong effect even the waking realm. 

Despite this, Vallion seemed relieved to find out he was the only one to encounter his demons tonight. "Good. That's.. that's good. I didn't want you to have to go through something like that. C-could you get me something to drink? I, heh. Whatever it was definitely tried to feast in the same way we did. I'm so drained.." 

It took no more for her to rise up from the pristine warmth of the bedding and begin staggering on the tips of her toes into the kitchen. While her vision had grown partial to the darkness, she snapped an illuminating spark onto the tip of her finger just so that she wouldn't crash into anything that was camouflaged and wake Pops. Though accomplishing such a feat as that was easier said than done, even her frantic rummaging through cupboards and clinking glasses together failed to rouse any changes in his distant snoring. Panne continued to listen for any disturbance in that white noise while she poured water as best she could in near blackness. Why had the nightmares solely targeted only a single person in the whole household? 

Vallion stared blankly at the window when the Braixen reentered as swiftly placed the filled glass within reach of his vines. He was hesitant to react at first, but soon snatched up the water and greedily gulped it down as she had seen Meowstic do. Was it specifically dehydration that was wracking his body, or some other side-effect of the slumbering illness that overcame him? She sat down beside him once more and watched closely as the entire glass went dry in a single breath. 

"What was it like? Was it really like premonitions after all, or do you not remember?" 

A scoff passed into existence through an especially raspy throat, clamoring for a better breath. "I wish it were that harmless. It was like.. hold on. You do end up having some difficulty remembering." He coughed a moment and clutched at his neck, a clear indicator that it was likely as ragged as it sounded. "Like, you know that feeling when you're trying to hide from something terrible, and all of a sudden it finds you? Imagine that single moment of dread and hopelessness, but it just goes on forever instead of you moving on to run away. I would compare it to being chased, but you can't really move at all." 

She found the explanation plenty to warrant scooting in and wrapping her arms protectively around her lover. Vallion leaned into her form, still staring off into space like something was there. The longer spend recovering while wide-eyed at nothing, the more fright began to transfer into her that there really might have been something here with them. It was never supposed to be as intense as what Vallion had experienced, right? What if the thing that was sapping people's fear was in this very room still from the abrupt awakening, and he was simply looking unconsciously at it? Was if it angry at her for interrupting the nightmare? Would it go after her next? A panicked quiver effortlessly found its way into her breathing. 

Detecting this, the Servine shook from the trance and pressed himself deeper into her chest, suppressing as much of the disdain in his lungs as possible. "Hey now, what's with that heartbeat? Everything's going to be fine, I promise. I won't let anything get through to your dreams, even if I have to take the full brunt of whatever it is." 

Steadily, gradually, they had lowered down into their bed and brought the backs of their heads to pillows still shapen to them. Vallion slithered into her side and could be felt still trying to woo sleepiness back into her, rustling soothingly through her belly fur in rhythms that had been proven to melt her worries away before. Her eyes darted to the dark corners of the room regardless. "But I don't want you to have to go through that again. I.. I don't care about ghosts or demons or whatever. I don't want to be safer if that puts you in even more danger." 

"Then protect me. I'm scared, too," he said, and buried his head deeper beneath her shoulder. It was a resonating request, but one that didn't sound as honest as his vows. Surely it was a plea made just to instill enough confidence in her that sleep would shortly follow the void where fear had once been. But she didn't care, curling tighter around his slender body and hugging his tail with her legs. Whatever attacked him would absolutely have to get through her first, no matter what he intended with his words. As if she would allow anything close enough to hurt her Val, let alone some cowardly creature that infested the dreams of innocent people... 

His plan succeeded, and her mind became too weighted to stay afloat any longer.


	2. Respiteless

The shrill ringing distinctly echoed throughout the village, bouncing from building and branch alike until it could finally touch her ears all the way here. Had this been in the past, she would have officially become late as of this instant and would have likely been preoccupied rushing out the door and recklessly through town. The only thing that would be waiting for her there was another scolding, delivered with paragraphs upon paragraphs of routine punishment. Especially this close to summer break. That's another six minutes on its own about consistency and perseverance. She could picture it now: The world-renowned explorer of herself, falling to such lows as to receive the same earful she had gotten as a kid and forced to write out sentences upon a blackboard with their mouth, despite having hands with which to finally pen with. There had to be some kid at this very moment breaking the sound barrier down the road that she could fully sympathize with. 

Panne set down her brush and turned away from the opened window, for just behind sounded her father's awakening in the form of a distant deep yawn and heavy thumping steps through the house. His sullen eyes and movements upon entering the room told of the disdain he held towards the sun's rise. "Morning, Pops," she called out, feeling the hole in her voice where enthusiasm should have been. 

"Mornin', sunshine. I'm kinda surprised to see you guys up so early, though it's probably not all too abnormal time. I would have definitely stayed in bed for another two hours if I were you." Carracosta shambled over to the central table and plopped himself down right then, stifling another yawn that threatened to escape as he did so. 

Across from him, Vallion sat still with a breakfast nearly completely untouched. The oran juice he poured into one of the largest glasses, however, had been completely downed since Panne had last looked. Last night was weighing much more heavily on him than her, but that was probably due to the lackluster amounts of sleep he was given. With the release of the breath he had been holding hostage, he began to speak. "I- uh, don't mean to be a bother this early in the morning, Carracosta, but I definitely had a little more than a mild bad dream last night." 

"Oh? So soon after getting here, too. I had hopes the bug would have at least waited a few days before coming up like this, but trouble just naturally falls into your laps, doesn't it?" Pops leaned in over the table and grabbed one of the two apples Vallion had completely ignored. "Do you see what we mean, though? It's hardly anything an aggressively potent flower or grass type could manage on its own. There's something else that's been going around and making people sick. The fact that it hasn't been bad enough to elicit more than a murmur is a sign of some deviousness beneath the surface, if I'm not going too insane. I may be old, but I like to think that there's not much rust in my gears yet." 

"I don't think it's really trying to be discreet anymore, whatever it is. I was nearly vomiting in the middle of the night, Panne had actually woke me because I was burning up and shuddering from the dreams. I can still remember them." Vallion reached down to make a brave attempt at another bite of toast, but seemed to only become annoyed at its dryness and chewed reluctantly as a result. After forcing the bite down, the Servine pressed himself to a stand and swiped his empty drink from the table. Pops would begin again as he motioned to pour another glass. 

"That.. doesn't bode well for the rest of the village. If two people now have had such intense reactions to the illness, that means surely more are to follow." Carracosta grunted before crisply snapping the apple in half with a single bite. It took just as long for him to swallow the massive piece as it did to create it. "I'm sorry to hear that, but they might mean something more if you reflect on what was inside. You say that you can still recall them?" 

Vallion took patience in his drink, likely feeling the chilled liquid clash terribly with his morning stomach. The only solace he would find is the relief in his ravaged throat. "Yeah, to a degree I wish I didn’t. The second half of the night was fine, though I wasn’t keen on getting back to sleep. Blank empty space was a lot better than what I dealt with earlier." He momentarily looked towards Panne with caution in his eyes before continuing. "Meowstic said that her dreams were like premonitions, and though I can somewhat see that, my own were much closer to true nightmares unless the future is meant to be so bleak. I would discuss the imagery in question, but I don't want to do it with Panne in earshot." 

"H-Hey! You can't just leave me out of it! This is obviously important for the both of us," she shouted in protest and crossed her arms. He hadn't said anything about WHAT he dreamed about last night, only the feeling that he was inflicted with during it. 

The Servine shook his head. "Come on, you still have nightmares about the time you had to rescue a sweet little Banette all by yourself. I don't want you to get too worked up over the specifics of some vague and uncertain dream I had. Trust me when I say this, you'll start obsessing over most of the things I saw and you won't be able to stop." 

A breath of defiance caught in her throat, stuck on the recollections of silly things that easily managed to shake her to her core. There flashed a pang of worry to accompany the fear, that Vallion had been an unconscious witness of visions whose mere descriptions would warrant her leave. That couldn't be good for him at all, and he says this like he isn't one to get caught up on nightmares as well. The real question was whether she'd be more perturbed to know nothing about what he had been through. Perhaps unfortunately, the answer wasn't too difficult to discern. "Fine. You can have your weird death shadow premonitions. I... I'll go check up on Meowstic, just in case her condition got any worse from last night." 

"Panne, are you sure you want to leave so soon?" Pops spoke up, having demolished the other half of the apple just moments before. "Have you even had breakfast yet? It's unwise to head out for the day on an empty stomach. We could simply discuss this matter later, seeing as it's going to be the entire day before we necessarily have to worry about falling ill again." 

"I did, don't worry about it." She was already reaching for the door, keen to leave the conversation and not be haunted by what Vallion had seen. The Braixen did have a nasty habit of invoking insidious things by actively thinking about and fearing them in the later hours of the night. It wouldn't be the first time she called upon malicious spirits by searching too frequently the dark corners of the room. Such was the common curse of a psychic type. "Besides, I really am worried about Meowstic. This would probably be the best time to check up on her, see if anything's changed. It's only convenient I can use it as an excuse to leave." 

And with the closed door behind her, Panne tilted her nose towards the sky and twisted her ears so that they protected her vision from the sun. In preparation for a lengthy sigh, she sucked in a warm lungful of sweet air, a contrastingly pleasant gulp of the summer breeze that swirled about the valley. If she concentrated hard enough, the scent of a distant blooming honey season could be detected riding the same wind all the way here. Nectar meadow was thriving if she could already smell the creation of its treasures wafting by. Leave it to a pristine morning like this to heighten her from gloomy to gracious is a matter of seconds. Still, there was business to attend to. 

Even in the short distance from Pops' house to Meowstic's, there were plenty more distractions to be found in familiar faces. Panne had no trouble immediately running into a vibrant Roselia who was just returning after running a few errands for her mother in town. They had apparently been saving up money for the chance to buy from Vespiquen this year, and being the stingiest of the both of them, she's had to handle their finances for the last month. A difficult task, but reportedly well worth the effort for the extra honey they can afford by the end. They each wished the other well and went on their separate ways as to not be bombarded for too long standing still in the intense sunlight. 

Nuzleaf had also crossed her path along the way, albeit very briefly. He somehow managed to slip into his old accent along the way of a passing greeting without even noticing, then continued to speed off towards wherever. The brief consideration to flag him down and ask what he had given Vallion last night flashed across her mind. Ultimately, he would speed off far more quickly than she could finish the thought, and her choice was decided for her. Probably for the best. 

Once more had the daunting monolith that was Meowstic's front door posed a pressing issue that could not so easily be answered. Rather than resorting to beating herself to a bloody pulp against its weight, Panne chose to give only a single bash and proceeded to try and shout through. "Hey Meowstic, are you awake?.. Should you be? I mean, probably not if all things are well, but-" 

'Yes, I am awake. Quit screaming at my door and come in, you'll start attracting attention,' Panne heard somewhere in the innermost parts of her ears. Turning the knob, she stood shoulder-first and pressed her way into the home with an exhalation of effort. While she had fully expected to have been hit by a wall of incense and odorous tea leaves, the only thing that would float by her nose was a faint cinnamon. 

To her surprise, across the room stood the psychic feline herself, who was in the process of shuttling too many mugs across the house from the nightstand to the sink. The improvements were immediately apparent-- her fur actually shiny and well-brushed rather than the apathetic tangle it once was, along with a fullness in and around her eyes that used to be dark and horrid. Panne had felt she was staring for a little too long. "Well geez! I was going to ask if you had gotten any better, but you frankly look twice the pokemon you were last night. It's amazing how radiant you look in comparison!" 

"That's what happens when you're actually getting sleep. My allergies have almost cleared up entirely by now, though there's just a teensy bit of scratchiness left. Always bet on ginger tea, I tell you." Meowstic took the final two cups and stacked them into the sink, where many ceramic pyramids had already been formed. She turned back to her guest with a subtle look of pride. "Anyways, what can I do for you? Did you come here just to check up, or was there something else?" 

"Well, yes. But.." Panne looked towards the ceiling, feeling the dusty gears of her restful mind realize something. Meowstic had accidentally read Val's mind last night, right? She said something about it that made him start flipping out, but at the time she herself was a little too distracted to hear exactly what. This would be a golden opportunity to press further about his... No. No, the nightmares are more important than detrimental curiosity. "So about the dreams you were getting, was there anything particularly peculiar with them? Anything noteworthy about their strangeness? Or, or maybe did you happen to feel some kind of presence at any point during when you were sick that couldn't be explained?" 

Her head tilted, expression sliding off her face in the wake of confusion. "What do you mean 'a presence'? is there someone going around messing with people while they're sleeping?" 

"I- uh, erm. Things are happening, we don't know. That's kind of the importance of me asking," she stuttered in response, crossing her arms defensively from her rough delivery. The point was kind of to not inspire panic. "I'm just trying to be thorough, mostly. Um, that's pretty much a no I guess, so could you skip to the part where you explain exactly what your dreams were like, if you can remember?" 

"Ah, alright. They're still pretty vague for what they were, but I'll try to take them apart as best I can. I haven't had one since yesterday, and they do fade pretty quickly." The churning process of remembrance gripped the Meowstic's visage, a pause ensued in the following moments while she tried to recall a slumbering past. "Well I did tell you that they were somewhat prophetic in nature, right? Nothing about them really said so, but they did feel explicitly like a real place with a real time. And-.. hmm.. 

"The setting in question was almost always at night, or at least somewhere too dark to see anything. It wasn't any stereotypical floating in darkness, I literally mean a pitch-black area somewhere in a forest. I'm pretty sure it was a forest I was in. It smelled of pine, anyway, if you want to go off whatever smell my mind decided to conjure up. Other than that, there really isn't much else that I can remember, besides the general emotion that was instilled in me the whole time, like some horrible and evil feeling that only gets worse and worse until you burst awake for the third time that night. That didn't have much direction, though, so that's that." 

Panne waved for her to stop there, though she was probably already finished by that point. "Wait, wait. So there's just an unexplainable negative charge in the air?" A nod in response. "Would you be able to describe the feeling like you had just 'gotten caught'? Like if you seriously hiding from something horrible and just got discovered?" 

This time, Meowstic shook her head. "Not really, no. More generally negative, like you're standing next to a murderer and haven't quite realized it yet. Or the pit of your stomach after wandering into somewhere you really shouldn't be." 

"Okay. Hmm.. That's enough about the dreams, I think. But- uh," Panne twisted around to check behind her, craning her ears further to detect if anyone was listening in from afar. Nothing was conspicuous, and she turned back around with mischievous intents. She was already here, and they were both among themselves for all she could tell. There was at least one mystery she could gain some closure on while still in this interrogating conversation. "You found out about Val's secret thing yesterday, right? The one he won't tell me anything about?" 

She immediately began to shake her head in disapproval. "Panne, he would kill me if I let loose even a little of what he's had planned. It was NOT a tiny thing. I hardly even know about it and the idea already seems convoluted to me. So no, I won't tell you what it is." 

"Eh. It was worth a shot, I guess. He's real openly cryptic about it," Panne said and shrugged, starting towards the exit and indifferent about the unsated curiosity swirling inside her. Yeah, still probably better off not yet knowing. "Try not to get cripplingly sick again, will you? I'm bad with worrying about multiple things at once." 

"...Oh!" Just as she reached to tug with all her might at the massive door, Meowstic exclaimed from behind her. "I forgot something! To add to the dreams, there was almost always some kind of light that flashed at the very end. It's kind of hard to notice since you're already having a panic attack at the time, but a bright yellow blink goes across your eyes exactly as it becomes too unbearable to stay asleep. You wake up at that moment, so I've never been able to tell what it is." 

A yellow flash could be many things, among an illusion created by eyelids bursting open with fear in the middle of the night. "Thanks. I'll let Val know about it, maybe he'll be able to pick this all apart." Upon her farewell, she moved past the mighty entrance and more carefully let the door's gravity cause it to fall into place rather than allowing the whole thing to slam shut. The sun rising still in the sky bore down on her eyes especially jarringly because of their adjustments to the dim indoors. She felt its heat sink into her fur and attempt to warm her whole all at once, up until she took off again and the breeze could sap it away. 

And she continued that slow stride a few feet more before realizing that there were no purpose to her steps. The question raised of what she would do at this instant. Was it wise to go back to Pop's so soon and impart what she had learned? The last thing she wanted to do was walk in during some vital moment and hear something that would pique some unswerving interest in her. For all she knew, he could have seen his own violent and tragic death and didn't want to talk about it with her around. As if that would do anything to help put her at ease. Besides, this fresh air was already working wonders for her nerves. What harm was there in taking a short walk around town to enjoy this flawless weather a bit more? 

The wind carried her heels as she started towards the center of Serene Village. There was too much to think about, and simply no explanations to accompany the thoughts. They'd been here for, what, a little over twenty hours? These days were scheduled to be incredibly lazy and laid-back, or at least she had planned for it. Whatever Vallion was cooking up seems to have been in the making for some time now without her knowing. Not even Meowstic could be swayed to give a hint of the grand scheme he had planned. Hrmm, he must not be thrilled to have to deal with the supernatural bug that was merely creeping through the valley until they showed up. Whatever's causing people to get sick didn't seem to like him in the slightest. Could it seriously be targeting him... No. No no no, under no circumstances is she going to start this. Everything will be fine. This isn't the first time something to this song and dance has happened. 

Though definitely alive, Serene Village's heart could hardly be compared to Lively City's bustling arteries in the midst of new daylight. The familiar faces of the scene could be seen going about familiar business, yet their pace was at least twice as lax and three times as likely to be paused for a quick hello. Even the diligent Kecleon, the same that had been stationed here for years, found enough contentedness to lean over his counter and rest his eyes while business continued to wake. Such an act was practically taboo everywhere else you'd find a merchant under the Kecleon sign with work hours well underway. But then again, finding a tiny stand such as this one anymore was also an impossibility. It wasn't as though very many travelers stopped through here to stock up on supplies when there was a much more traveled town up north. The sales he could make were generally as static as the small population that consumed from him, which in itself was one of the most accountable things she knew. 

Panne took a deep breath of the valley air and conceded her worries on the exhale. There were many people to greet, far too many to go out of her way to do so. Rather than bother being aggressively social, the Braixen shrugged to herself and began towards the water's edge to sit. The distant waving folk that did notice her were responded to promptly, but otherwise she did little more than sit on the dock and stare at the shimmering water's surface while absorbing the atmosphere. The low murmur of far-off conversations, the lake lapping gently against the shore, and especially the echoing calls of fleeting flying types who were skirting around this little civilization on their way to instinctual destinations. This was the kind of scene she would always end up aching for while working her hardest. 

Upon taking a quick glance behind her, one new sight in particular completely wrestled away her every attention and shattered the peaceful trance. Beside the dirt exit to town was a large and dark figure she had never seen before, but swore with every fiber of her being she knew. The most obvious possibility was almost too much for her to believe. But her eyes played no tricks, as the pokemon turned around and revealed the stem of grass they were idly chewing on. It had finally happened. Panne couldn't resist hopping to her feet and rushing forward to greet them. 

"Oh my god, Pancham? Is that you?" her shouts finally managed to catch his notice, but just as soon did his gaze roll and a groan rise from his mouth, no doubt anticipating the dread of the oncoming interaction. "I can't believe it, you finally evolved! Oh goodness gracious, look at you! You used to be so short!" 

"Come on, Panne. Do you really need to make such a b- Oof!" Pangoro's words were cut short by the Braixen's tackling hug, all the more reason for him to attempt to shy away in protest. Though none have ever had the strength to break free of her grip. 

"You're so huge now, I can't see over your head anymore! Ooh, I can hardly even touch it!" she mused before her attempt was swatted away. Panne stepped away, but not before taking a finger and delivering a playful jab to his stomach. "And you even made it a point to be more rotund, too! It really is a good idea to round yourself out if you're going to get taller, isn't it? I don't remember you being this.. circular." 

He looked down at his belly for a brief moment of introspection before snapping out of it and scoffing. "Hey, knock it off! I don't have the kind of time to run around all day and play in mystery dungeons, alright? Any average pokemon's going to be a little chubbier than someone who tries to run marathons through deserts. It's only natural they'd look a little better." 

Panne's smirk grew. "Are you saying I'm attractive?" 

"I- I never said that!" 

"Oh. So you think I'm kinda ugly, then?" 

Over thrice as large as before, an intimidating aura that would make a dragon type back down, and he still got just as flustered as ever. "No! Not at all! I... Quit teasing me! You can't just start picking on me again the very second you find me after coming back into town. We are adults, and... Ugh. I knew this kind of thing would end up happening just as I evolved." 

"Ooh, I get it. So you were thinking of me in the midst of evolving, is that it?" 

His exasperated growl was matched only by her bubbling laughter, which had began to pour out of her lungs the moment her swelling smile finally burst. A gentle fist came into contact with the side of her arm. Or rather, a mostly-gentle fist that still had enough force to knock her back a foot, but not quite enough that any true harm was meant. She invited the retaliation still drowning in giggles, as it was only fair now that Pangoro had any actual might behind his arms. The dull ache in her shoulder for some reason had been lined with a warm sentimentality she did not quite expect from having been punched. It reminded her that she was home. 

"Nice to see you again, doofus," she finally managed to say, nursing where the deserved hit had landed. "What have you been doing lately? We didn't see you around yesterday, and I started to assume you might have moved away like Accelgor did. I didn't really think to ask around too much about it, though." 

Pangoro's composure had gradually returned, but there was the remnant of some embarrassed shiftiness still in his eyes. "No way, I couldn't leave this place if I tried. I just got back from visiting him, actually. The lucky bastard's doing pretty well for himself, all things considering." 

"It's not luck if you're actually trying to do something, Pangoro. Ooh, that's weird to say. Pangorooo. I gotta get used to that." To her lightheartedness, he merely sighed and crossed his arms. If it hadn't gotten old for her by now, it probably never would. 

Yet as he looked up again past the Braixen that harassed him, something very blatantly caught his focus and told of a possible escape. Pangoro did not hesitate to take the opportunity. "And speaking of things that are too lucky, your pet snake is calling for you over there. Probably should check that out." It was no lie, for Panne twisted around to see the Servine wave at her and begin to approach, Farfetch'd of all people in tow. "Oh, look at the time. It's half-past I'm-not-here-anymore. Pay no attention to the Pangoro promptly not being here." Just like that, he had started to take off in the opposite direction. 

"Panne, hey!" Vallion shouted as the distance between them closed. "I didn't know where you went, and neither did Meowstic when I checked. And- Oh my god, is that Pancham?" 

"I'm leaving!" the Pangoro yelled one last time before exiting earshot entirely and wandering up the dirt path from their vision. 

The disbelief eventually drained from Vallion's face long enough for him to continue what was being said earlier. "Err- listen. I went off looking for you, and I ran into Farfetch'd along the way. We've got another problem to address, apparently." 

"Wait, really? This place starts to fall apart the moment we get back, huh?" Panne swallowed her despair as she turned to the flying type and allowed the unswerving heroism that wouldn't complain about their business to take hold overneath her mind’s voice. The tinge of grey in his darker feathers had amplified even further from the last time she saw him. For once, his eyes had seemed to relent in their naturally punishing presence, the same look he would use to subdue unruly students before they had even done anything at all. "So what's going on? Isn't it still school hours? Or did you just put Watchog on substitute and abandon him to be torn apart by ravenous children?" 

"Yes, I am on a very tight schedule at the moment. That's why I've come out here to find you two, or at least anyone as dependable and willing. Not that I wish to impede on your newfound free time, but there is a rather mundane yet major issue that needs attending, and I haven't got the time or resources to have anyone else deal with it." He huffed anxiously at the end of his sentence, an indicator of the very stress that discolored him to begin with. 

It hadn't even needed to process through her mind before her mouth got working. "It's no problem, really. We'd likely have done it just the same if our schedules were filled to the brim. How can we help?" 

Farfetch'd furrowed his brow to the question. "I'll make it brief: we're missing two kids today. A Growlithe and a Ledyba respectively. When they hadn't shown up for class earlier, I had assumed they either snuck off or came upon the flu and stayed home. It's always been the Ledyba to do these kinds of things, you see, so I simply assumed that I would come across them later and find a poor explanation to rip asunder. Well their parents arrived shortly after, checking up on whether or not their children had actually made it. Apparently both the kids had disappeared by morning without the slightest warning." 

"Mm. Sounds like something I would do. The sneaking out, I mean," Panne spoke up between the breaths he took. 

"Exactly. It's hardly a huge cause for concern, but it's nevertheless instilling a great deal of distress in their parents. Since it most likely is a minor dilemma at best, I don't want to cause a whole fuss over it and get everyone involved with some desperate search. All we need is for you to drag them back by the ears from where they had ran off to before their mothers burn the forest down themselves. Certainly not as demanding as some other missions you've taken, no?" 

"It isn't any problem, Mr. Farfetch'd. We'll start looking for them as soon as possible," Vallion said for the both of them. Feeling an eagerness unquestionably start to well up in her chest, Panne crossed her heart and doubly confirmed the statement. Not that she had any personal choice of whether or not to agree, but it stood that an average emergency like this was the best method of getting her blood moving again, so to speak. Something so unremarkable was much easier to parse and pursue than warlords and phantoms ever were. She found it easier to leave the mind-rending mysteries to Val, since those never quite had the same ring as finding lost children or putting out fires. They simply gave a much more tangible kind of gratification with very little moral strings attached. 

A sigh of relief fell from his beak like it had been pent up in there for ages. "Excellent, that's excellent. You two have always been the reliable few for keeping things simple. I am immensely grateful for your help, but do try to discourage the kids from repeating this same thing, hm? I realize it was a common trial when you were younger, but we shouldn't forget the many times you got yourself or others into serious danger from being out alone." 

It wasn't too long after that the Farfetch'd sped off back towards the school with only the most fleeting of farewells shouted out behind him. In the fresh silence they had been placed into, Vallion's tiny dissenting groan could barely be heard as he scratched the back of his head with a vine. "Alright, that's fine. The dream sickness can wait, I suppose. Ugh, isn't it two weeks from summer or something? Why would kids go skipping when there's hardly anything left of the year? I honestly doubt they'd start any meaningful lessons this late into the semester." 

"All the easier to skip, right? They're probably not missing much." Panne shot a glance at the school's boundaries, trying hard to remember the exact things she was taught during the last stretches. Of course, she could mostly only recall sitting restlessly and thinking about the things she was going to do once free. "So where are we starting? The sooner we get these kids back where they belong, the sooner we can get back to being anxious about sleeping." 

"We'll start in the exact same places you would go, I imagine. You should check out the southern forest for around a mile out in a semicircle, and I'll take the school forest and whatever's north of it. The process should be kinda obvious by now. If you don't find either of them on your side, head back before the sun begins to set and see if I have. And if neither of us find them, we probably have bigger problems on our hands than some nasty dreams and a cough." 

Their swift parting was marked with an equally swift peck to the other's lips. But as they were meant to pull away, a gasp of hesitance from the Servine turned to him pulling her closer and completing the circuit of their tongues. She did not mind the insistence, but it struck odd that he would so spontaneously burst into affection. The answer would come as they finally did draw apart and find the other's eyes to focus on. The calmness that had normally defined his was gone, and there instead was something a little more desperate that widened his eyelids and sharpened his pupils. There was love in the midst, but it wasn't quite a loving look. 

Having read the concern on her face, he looked towards the ground with heavy lungs. "I know. I'm just.. worried, and in the process of overthinking a whole lot of things. I wasn't quite preparing while we were traveling home to deal with any of this. It just got a little too heavy for me for a second. Everything's fine, okay?" 

She pulled him in, throwing his head over her shoulder and wrapping her arms down his long body. There was an obvious tension in his muscles that retracted to her touch. "Everything's not fine, but we're going to fix it. Then, you're going to enact your big plan that everyone absolutely refuses to give me hints about. One thing at a time and we'll get there." When Panne looked back at his face, the frightened expression had softened a slight amount. "And whatever was in your dream that keeps bothering you, I'm not going to let it happen." 

"..Sorry. I got carried away," he said, and confidence returned to lessen his gaze. Or at least, he put on a very convincing brave face. "You're right. Let's go find these kids and bring them back in one piece, that'll at least take one thing off my mind. And quit asking people about my secret." With that said and a sarcastic scoff between them, the search for Ledyba and Growlithe had officially begun. Her pace picked up to a jog as houses and people alike passed by, determined more than ever now that she could directly help in solving what ailed her lover. It may have just been her shaving off the tip of the iceberg, but it was better than anything mere comforting words could offer. 

The first place Panne thought to check was the hill overlooking the village. It was a spot with plenty of significance to the townsfolk, and the penultimate answer for following the prompt 'where she would go'. Though the view was as splendid as ever, and the sweet air was more potent at the top than among barricading buildings and trees, nobody was there. It didn't stop the Braixen from taking a moment to stare out into the distance from underneath the shattered shade provided by the swaying leaves. To be fair, this was probably the place you would most want to avoid when trying to effectively skip class. Case and point: here she was, and not more than two minutes from when she had left to scout the woods now behind her. No use in ditching if you're going to get caught right away. 

Her subsequent wandering southward quickly called for more than just an open eye, as the canopy grew thicker with the foliage as both halfheartedly sought to impede her progress. No longer was she required to shield her eyes from the sun, but the reality was that this transition was the borderline of a mystery dungeon. One with a rather weak flow of magic, but nevertheless a dense landscape that was meant to confuse. It wouldn't be all too hard for a young child to become lost among the tall bushes and winding passages. If they truly were in this forest, Panne scrutinized every inch of the place with every ounce of her experience as to find any peculiar marker that would agree. Even the smallest of clues could point her in the right direction. 

But even while concentrating harder than she had all day, there was a serene ambience to the forest that she couldn't quite shake off. It melted into her mood, putting appreciative pauses in the deliberate stride she was meant to take. The verdant tinge that covered everything from sunlight powering through layers of treetop, the first chirping awakenings of Nincadas who had buried themselves for the coldest months out of instinct, and even the rustling of her pressing through sections clinging vegetation-- It was too beautiful a day to ignore. Despite how heavy things were starting to become, she was glad to be out here and active, pushing her mind and eyes to find near invisible traces of anything. All the while this therapeutic scenery sprawled on in all directions. 

Of course, that didn't mean she was successful at all in that search. Aside from a few instances of small wild pokemon lazily going about their mornings, there was neither hide nor tail of the two children anywhere. There hadn't been a trail to follow that was even remotely promising. In fact, the woods were entirely empty in terms of interesting activity. She hadn’t even had the pleasure of stumbling across a strange scent with her acute sense of smell, and practically anything could have caused one. She was intentionally wading through the thickest areas and finding nothing. 

Panne extended her search and rigorously scanned all throughout the mile radius out from the village she was given. If the Growlithe and Ledyba were indeed around here, then not even ten radar orbs taped together would be enough to unveil where they hid. She even took note to look upwards into the branches of tall trees in case verticality was the problem. The mild terrain proved little problem for her to maneuver over, though they would have probably served as great barriers to prevent a young explorer's passage. But it wasn't as if she was very intimidated herself by this density when their age, and boy did she ever dare to wander around out here and test the difficulty of those barriers. It's a wonder she never managed to get herself stuck in a hole and crying for help. 

Pops would always become absolutely livid whenever she snuck out into the forest on her own. The lecture would always span for monumental amounts of time, sometimes long enough that he would actually keep talking after dark and they would have to eat dinner late. That also meant she got to stay up later than usual, which was always an unintended treat to reward a risk that was usually worth it anyway. The seal of a great adventure would be marked with having to lie about the dangerous things she did during them, just to lessen her punishment. As if she could leave the house ever again if he knew about the time she hid from a Seviper in a hollowed-out log and barely escaped with her life. Most would think that such an experience would dissuade someone from exploring, but it only served to make her more hungry for it. 

A black blur shot across her vision in an instant, disappearing behind a thicket just as quickly as it appeared. Her heart skipped a beat as every other muscle in her body followed the example and froze. As the fright faded in the following second, she looked towards the thicket it was most certainly behind and took the leap. The entity had not made any sound as it moved, and at a speed like that, there's no way any Taillow could manage that level of silence. Not to mention most flying types wouldn't dare to move at such a dangerous speed through the middle of a forested mystery dungeon. It wasn't exactly stealthy for her to press blindly through grasses going up to her ears, but there was no way she could catch up otherwise. Shame about the ruination of her brushing this morning, though. 

There were only glimpses to catch while wading through the foliage, none of which telling much more about what exactly was speeding through the forest. Her stumbling hastened as it began to pick up distance on her, uninhibited by the environment it was traveling through. The chase likely had nothing to do with the children, but with an unnatural sight came the suspicion that other events might have been given a culprit.If she could catch a good enough look at it before being left completely in the dust... 

Only after she had exit the other side of the density was there an opportunity to see the creature clearly as it halted for a short while. Panne peered out from the vegetation and glanced at the unexplainable sight of an Unown. It was impossible to tell the exact character it represented from this distance, and whether it realized it was being watched or not, the thing took off once more and fell to the cover of leaves. There was no way her mind was playing a trick on her. The sight had been too crisp and she was keen to verify herself on a double take. Alas, its appearance only elicited more questions to go unanswered than vice versa. What the hell was one of those doing in the middle of the Water Continent? There weren't any major ruins around here as far as she could remember. If one were significant enough to have a population of Unown, she probably wouldn't have forgotten it so easily. 

As peculiar as the sighting was, it brought her no closer to finding where the children had gone. It brought forth curious speculations about the region, sure, but that wasn't what fueled her fiber-covered legs to step out from the brush and continue onward. At least she'd have something meaningful to report to Vallion once... she forgot to tell him about the dreams Meowstic had. No matter, she'll do it after completing this scan. That was the plan all along, right? Well, the plan was to actually enjoy their time after having completed the biggest project they would likely ever undergo, and there hasn't exactly been any room to do that. Maybe one day they'll actually get a break from the problems of the world and she might not end up worrying about any sort of stagnation wracking her idle mind. 

After having come across a clearing, she was able to look out into the sky and determine the amount of time she spent searching so far. Which is to say, the sun had crossed already into its noon position and she was running out of time. There had been no sign of anyone unusual coming through these woods for the last extra half-mile she added on. It was safe to say that the kids were probably on Vallion's side of the village, and that she could likely return home empty-handed and be fine. As it stands, there was no reason to believe they had come out this way and completely covered their tracks. Why go out another half-mile with that kind of certainty? 

Her legs kept moving forward and her eyes never stopped scrutinizing every scratch and scuffle, for not even that logic was enough to convince the most stubborn side of her that heading back was viable. No matter if she had unknowingly passed them earlier or not. That extra mile has been enough to save lives before, why should she refrain from it now? And what was she going to do otherwise if not continue the search, go home and sit still contemplatively about dreams and being worried about dreams? There wasn't even anything they could do about that, she would simply be biding her time for the night to come and proceed to be frightened that it has. Besides, there was plenty more forest to go before she hit foothills.


	3. Concepts and Compassion

"Are you serious?!" Panne made an attempt to stifle her volume, but with little success or resulting consequence. The Servine didn't reply without completing one more lap around the table and finding a backpack to toss up onto it. Just as quickly he began to stuff its pockets with some of the leftover bread slices from last night. A crude job, but apparently all that they had time for. 

"I haven't found any other clues that would point otherwise. It adds up the most compared to everything else, so that's what we're going with. They learn about Revelation Mountain in class from Watchog, he bends the story enough that they start to get curious if what happened up there really did, finally they go off on their own little adventure and get themselves in deep trouble alone since there was no way anyone would take them up there. You wouldn't happen to have any ideas where those kids went besides the most dangerous mystery dungeon this side of the range, would you? 'Cuz I'd really be relieved if you did." Having collected adequate rations, he moved on to filling a few of the canteens they had lying around the house. 

She shook her head. "No, I don't. But we aren't prepared at all to head into an actual dungeon, even if it's this close to home. We were specifically trying to avoid doing this kind of thing when we arrived. There are things even we shouldn't assume we can conquer without any of the proper equipment. You know, like an entire hostile mountainside. We don't even have any emera braces, and you just shoved entire slices of bread into a bag pocket." 

"True, but we were going to take on the task regardless of whether we had the supplies or not, weren't we? No use in counting disadvantages that we can't do anything about." It was true, they were definitely used to doing things this stupid. Whether or not they were prepared was usually irrelevant. Still zooming about the house, Vallion shot into her room for a brief moment before returning with the two exploration gadgets they never went anywhere without. One he tossed onto the table beside the bag, and the other he handed to an overwhelmed Carracosta, who had been standing on the sidelines of the room and watching this unfold. "We'll need you to be our mouth for the town while we're gone. Sometime tonight we'll have scouted all we could and will call back to report whether or not we've found the children. It's yours to relay to the parents and everyone else. You can call us if anything develops down here, as well." 

Looking down at the device, Pops took on a bewildered look but nodded regardless. " I understand. It's difficult for me to help with these kinds of emergencies these days, so I'll do all I can on my end. Speaking of which, I sure hope I can remember how to use this shiny thing. It's been quite a while since I last handled one," he said while turning the gadget over to examine its entirety. 

"Don't worry, it hasn't changed too much. Jirachi made some real solid technology way back when, but she was always too picky to go more modern." Panne felt a quickening in her chest, an invigoration panic at the disintegrating situation at hand. The adrenaline tingled in her hands as she caught the closed backpack Vallion tossed to her. She almost felt guilty at how much this kind of emergency fueled her. 

Even after double-checking everything to make certain they at least had enough rudimentary supplies to ensure the trip wasn't a failure the second they left the door, Vallion still seemed to hesitate in place when fiddling in his own bag. His frozen form looked down at the floor in deep thought, something very strange to see after having witnessed his ceaseless energy not moments ago. Finally, something aligned in his head that could bring about conclusion and he rushed one last time into the adjacent room. By the time the Servine had returned, he clutched to his chest the same woven sack that held his supposed spectacular secret, and proceeded to gingerly fit it with the rest of his essentials before zipping it up. 

"Where are you going with that? I'm pretty sure that doesn't have anything to do with being up on that mountain." A pang of curiosity pieced even her insatiable excitement. 

"I.. Hmm," he muttered and looked away, once more finding that same indecision sharpening his expression. "We'll see if I end up going through with it or not. If all goes well, maybe I'll..." Shaking free of the spell, he closed the last remaining inch of open zipper teeth and slung the bulging pack over his shoulder like some silent judgement had been declared. Having lacked the shoulders to support its design, he wrapped his supplies to his back with one of his vines and tied it with the other. He wasted no more time in started towards the door and beckoning her to follow. "Let's go. Every second we waste is one they're still in danger." 

As he plunged out the door into the waning afternoon, Panne stopped a moment in place. "See you, Pops! We'll be right back with the kids, just wait for that call!" With that, she charged out after him and blindly dragged the door to a close behind her. There was little time left in the day to reach the mountain and begin the search with any light left, so their pace must be incredibly swift. The incoming darkness will undoubtedly multiply the difficulty of the search. 

But even a sprint as impressive as theirs could be brought to a screeching halt by the sight of an Arcanine waiting among the exit of town. They knew who it was before they even turned around, made more apparent when their forlorn visage was made deeper by the shadows of a sinking sun. The mother had began her approach after having seen the two dashing for the exit just moments before. And Arcanine, too, had personal ideals to uphold. "Are you the two going out to find my son?" They nodded, she huffed steam from her nostrils. "I'm coming with you." 

Vallion looked cautiously over to Panne for an in a silent exchange, then back at the Arcanine. "I understand your concern and willingness, but I'm afraid you must stay here." 

"..What? Why!?" The mother's voice erupted into a pitiful fury, matching better with the distress in her eyes. "I am more than capable of handling myself, why shouldn't I be out there as well and looking for my own son?! I'm likely faster than the both of you!" 

The Servine didn't bother trying to correct her, instead swallowing his nervousness and calmly giving his answer. "If it were going to still be light out by the time we got there, then I'd agree. But it won't, and the safest and most efficient party at that point is still only going to be the both of us. A mystery dungeon is no place to be treading after dark, even for a seasoned adventurer without a worthy enough cause. 

"Why does that matter?" she replied with a cracked voice, barely holding down the snarling tears that have likely been threatening to spill for the last hour. "I don't care what happens to me. I don't care if I have to go through hell and back. You can't expect me to just sit idly by while he's somewhere out there constantly in danger! He WILL come home to safety!" 

"And when he does, he will still need a mother. Preferably one not lost in the mountains or incapacitated in a wilderness accident. You may scour the nearby forests and hills again if you still wish to make yourself active, but we barely have enough medical means to take care of ourselves should something even mild happen to us. To support a body of your size if you got hurt would be next to impossible, and procrastinated care causes often lethal consequences. Do not be selfish." 

The Arcanine's face drained of anger as it transformed into despair once more, her fiery will extinguished. She looked to them and very nearly began to plead. "What... What am I supposed to do? There's nothing in the forests." 

That was an answer he already had prepared. "Carracosta will receive a call from us after we've found your child. In his possession is one of our two exploration gadgets, so the first you'll hear from us later tonight is directly from him. Go to him, and see if you can't tell Ledyba's guardians about it as well." 

A begrudging surrender, the Arcanine lowered her head and growled for a few moments before finally turning the motion into a nod. "He had better return unharmed, or I'll gnaw your legs off for making me wait here." She took a lethargic and crestfallen trot around them so that their original path was open once more. Vallion swallowed a sigh and beckoned to the Braixen again before taking off down the dirt path exiting town. 

It wasn't too difficult to stay caught up with him, but to match his position a few meters ahead, Panne had to press herself while following down the winding road leading from town. For all the searching she had already done today, the muscles of her legs were beginning to grow tired. It made the words she concentrated hard to form still come out as winded. "Why couldn't she come? It's true.. that we're better by ourselves at night, but.. there wasn't any reason to turn her away." 

"I want as few people as possible on that mountain tonight, or at any point in time for that matter. It's really a matter of superstition, but better safe than sorry," he was far more eloquent than her in the midst of the sprint, not even pausing for a breath. 

"Does this.. have to do with your dream or something? You.. you seemed especially averse to letting that mother look for her son." He hummed affirmatively, and their direction took a sharp left onto a much less traveled road. Shortly upon the turn came a decrepit little checkpoint where the villagefolk used to guard entrance of the path to Revelation Mountain. It stood rotting now, as there were no legacies from a thousand years ago to protect. "You know, I'm starting.. to think that maybe I should know about your nightmare after all. It seems too important not to if.. you're going to start believing in it so strongly. 

"I just don't want to take any chances is all," the Servine managed to shout back as their pace began to slow for fear of the upcoming uneven ground. "Don't worry about it." But she did worry about it, extremely so after recalling what Meowstic had described earlier that day. Of all the places they could be heading while the night began to overthrow light's rule over the sky, their destination would smell most of the pine needles. It was absolutely riddled with evergreens after a great wind scooped up so many seeds and deposited them onto its soil. The only piece of the puzzle she couldn't yet fit in was the mysterious light that supposedly would occur as things were at their worst. She hoped that it wouldn't take that exact situation to discover the meaning. 

All of that was simply in contemplation of the dreams themselves, as well. There was hope discerning the reason an Unown would wander miles upon miles from the next place she would expect to see one. And the nightmare sickness itself was additionally a factor they hardly had a grasp upon. Now they were dashing straight towards a prime suspect as to where these feverish visions had taken place, apparently so relevant that Vallion actually feared letting others go anywhere near it. She was starting to get second-hand foreboding from just thinking about the kinds of things he anticipated. 

The trail eventually became too ridden with thriving foliage for them to continue moving at such a brisk pace. They were forced to slow to an unnerving speed just to keep from getting caught on a vine and spilling forward into the unforgiving dirt. Panne would have argued that it was also to conserve energy for the task ahead, but really she just didn't have the energy to keep up to begin with. They both hadn't eaten anything since this morning, and it was hardly something you could call a meal at that. Her burning tendons were beginning to rebel against her exertion, anyway. The pain was something she had learned to ignore, but it was the actual limb that would give up before she remembered to give it rest. 

Compared to anyone else who might walk this road, they had made incredible amounts of progress in a very short time. Yet it didn't matter how close they got to the mountain right now if they were still forced to search it at night. From the looks of this place, they had to be around the halfway point from the village and were actively approaching the most strenuous part of the journey that wasn't the mountain itself. Of course, it wasn't too difficult to speed along the first narrow stretch, but the story quickly changes when the wilderness itself seeks to reclaim its untrodden paths and the major mystery dungeon seeps into the surrounding woods and hills. A big problem considering they were attempting to outpace the very sun and get some surface area covered before darkness fell. If the kids really did run off to explore a place so dangerous that Dark Matter's foil was stowed away at its peak, then their regret from the mistake must have intensified gravely as the sky became more colorful. 

Vallion was deathly silent the whole way. Not that it was very peculiar for him to do so when there were so many things to ponder, but he had that look on his face like the world was falling apart and he had forgotten where he kept the tape to bind it back together again. To her chagrin, now was as good a time as ever to prod with this labored speed. "Hey, Val." 

"Hm?" His head tilted slightly towards her, but she doubted he was really listening for the first few seconds after. So she waited, and began again once certain he had mostly stowed away the dread and doom he was caught up on. 

"When I checked up on Meowstic this morning, I was able to get a few answers about what her dreams were like in the process. You know, just starting up the investigation in case anything she knew could help us." She paused for him to possibly add something, but he remained quiet. "I managed to get some descriptions out of her about what she saw, ones that are suspiciously close to the place we're going right now. Pine forest, air heavy with some sort of negativity, in the dead of night; she even said that the setting it took place in definitely hasn't happened yet, and she was certain of that part." 

The only thing he said in response was a nearly inaudible "I see." 

Having gathered nothing from his willful indifference, Panne moved on to the more provocative aspects of what she learned. "All of it was mostly vague, but she was also specific about one other thing. Meowstic said that, always just before her eyelids would shoot open and the incomprehensible horror would be at its most intense, there is a flash of yellow light that fills her unconscious vision. It sounds more important than just the side-effect of suddenly waking up, but I can't really make anything out of it. Do you have any idea what that could be?" 

Though his expression did not change from where she stood, it took an exceptionally long time for him to reply. Almost long enough that she had become convinced that there was nothing that would shake him out of his trance. "Yes, I believe I do." 

"... Well? Aren't you going to tell me, or are you going to keep bottling everything up until you explode?" 

"Panne," his voice was stone cold, like the world's secrets were about to fall into her hands. Something had struck a nerve that had already been ringing all day. "Do you remember that Hydreigon I met back at Lively City a few years ago? The one you got angry at because he wouldn't talk while you were in the room?" 

Her mind reached far back, and it managed to touch a faint memory that seemed to match somewhat. "Kinda, yeah. What about?" 

"If something ever, uh.. If something human-y, ever ends up happening to me, I need you to find that Hydreigon. I don't think the Connection Orb is very accurate anymore, but try to do it as fast as possible in the event that something explicitly soul-related goes down in the next few days, or pretty much ever. You have to promise me you'll remember that." 

"Val.." The only thing that kept her from halting in place was the will of their purpose. As serious as they were now, any hesitation could spell the demise of two adolescent pokemon. "..What the hell did you see in your dream?" 

The Servine shook his head. He was finally becoming increasingly expressive, as told by the shakiness of his breathing and quickening of his steps. "I heard some things, I saw some things-- and sure, it did involve the mountain. Normally I wouldn't be all too worried about any of this, but whatever's causing this stuff to happen is beyond disturbing if it can make me to feel my hands and legs. Not mine right now, my OWN. Human hands and human legs and.. and a human face that I don't even know what looks like. How am I even supposed to know what it feels like to be a human anymore? I've been in this body for so long, and it's meant to be all I'll ever know. I am a Servine, there is not a single atom in my brain tissue that remembers my human body." 

There was a short distance between their march before, but she had willed it to close. "Are you sure it wasn't just part of the dream? I'm pretty sure everyone's at least had one where they were in a body that wasn't theirs, and it's probably natural that you would end up as a human. Both in imagination and in spirit." 

"No, I know what it feels like to dream up a different body. This was MY old body, it had to be. Whatever's making these nightmares is very specific with what it wants and what it knows. It's no coincidence that I'm the only one that experienced anything last night." For the first time since he began to break down, Vallion turned his head from the road to look at her. "That Hydreigon's the only person that can help me if something goes horribly wrong with this entity. Not the average kind of wrong, but the irreversible kind that I really hope it does not actually possess the powers to inflict." 

"Hey!" her shout silenced his rising panic, leaving him speechless for the moment. Long enough for her to catch his eyes with her own and stop their walking outright. "Do you honestly believe fate isn't something we've risen above before? That destiny has any power over us? Over you, a human of all things? You've been acting like this all day, as if we haven't shattered plenty of odds in the past! Nothing is going to beat us with exaggerated threats if they haven't already." 

Still, the fear did not leave his eyes, and he started to walk again. "Remember his name, at least. Just in case something ever does happen." 

Panne let loose a groan as they passed by the remnants of the second checkpoint. It would have marked their arrival at the foothills leading up to the base of the mountain, and thusly their entrance into a mystery dungeon's boundaries. She would have gladly wasted more time trying to dissolve Vallion's pessimism had she thought of anything more to say, but the winding destitute passage they stepped onto stole too much of her focus. There was a constant timer ticking away just above as the gradient grew darker and darker. What mattered was that they found and protected the kids who had supposedly charged into this place, any personal sacrifice was a willing one if that's what it should come to. No matter how unhinged they became because of the current situation, there was that simple goal to keep them aligned. 

She did at least have the time to try and piece together the meaning of his nightmare while they marched on. Despite lacking any other specifics, it was easy to start obsessing over the disembodied experience he had. Did souls even have the capability of memory? You would assume so, considering her own was basically wiped from existence and brought forth again with the same head on her shoulders, and it isn't unheard of to recall long-lost memories while in the realm of dreams. Mainly, she was worried about the fact that it was a recollection borne from a dream being tampered with. Something had forced him to feel it, targeting him specifically. And she still didn't even know what the yellow light meant, despite seriously feeling like it was familiar in some way. 

There wasn't as much resistance on the lower slopes as they expected, but the task of finding their way through still ate up the last of the time they had. Uneventfully and loaded with introspection, the way to the mighty mass of rock that filled a third of the visible sky had opened. Then would come the true hardest part, as the most territorial inhabitants existed as verticality became a factor. Any hope that they would continue to be ignored was thoroughly dashed at the steep beginning of their search. The dangers of being conspicuous weren't even directed at them, either. Attracting too much attention from across the land could create a shockwave of agitation and put the kids in danger. Panne could take on a horde by herself should it ever come to that, they were not the ones they feared for. 

The Braixen, knowing well that a light at the end of her thumb would do no good once the shadows deepened, swiped up a large branch off the forest floor dry enough that it might burn well. With the abilities she had over a controlled flame like the one she conjured at its end, a piece of fuel this size should have no problem lasting for an hour or two, even with a more powerful gleam than any normal flame would exude. They both breathed a cumulative sigh once the light had adequately brightened their surroundings and started towards the first obstacle of many. 

With that same blatant beacon in replacement of the once sunlit sky, coupled with their shouts into the darkness for the hope of a child's distant response, they began to encounter plenty of feral adversaries investigating the annoying commotion. None would stand for the peace of their iron-gripped territories being disturbed by a handful of noisy invaders. The results of the retaliation, however, often ended by the sight of varied tails between legs as many fled in submission. An organized assault might have actually been effective, but one at a time had pokemon come to be threatened with brilliant displays of red billowing flames or to be wrestled and tossed repeatedly to the ground by deft vines. 

They would find their first actual threat in the appearance of some mighty beast that screeched as it flew over the canopy. Looking up revealed only the vague shadow of a streamlined creature that was probably at a much lower altitude on the mountain than it should have been. Apparently furious at the gall of the strangers who so arrogantly romped around with its subjects, a Flygon's deafening call echoed from the landscape as it crashed through leaf and branch onto a high ground overlooking them. It made no attempt to negotiate, thought little of reason after having taken such offense, and screamed its dominance to the heavens and to the two pokemon who were about to be sent there. 

But not even the fury of a wild dragon type could stand up to a glittering maw of mystical flames as Panne cast with the catalytic branch in her hands. Her fantastical display molded fire to look like a monster's fangs as it collapsed down on its target, and was much more a move to intimidate than it was to harm, but plenty of both effects came as it washed over the Flygon and exploded into sparkling smoke. While it had gained perhaps a few minor burns at best from the impact, she had dissuaded it from engaging them all the same. None could blame it for having made a swift retreat back into the abyssal blues of the sky considering that the fireball was twice its size. Alas, she had turned most of the branch in her hands to ash afterward, and they were forced to find another decently-sized, abandoned piece of bark before continuing their search. 

Many more would come to meet a similar fate as they scaled higher and higher in pursuit of the two lost children. As mighty as a creature might seem in defense of its natural domain, the will of self-preservation commonly took over after the first few blasts that the Braixen unleashed. She had to be extremely careful with her aim, as the summer's heat surely made a great deal of the environment flammable even on a continent known for its heavy rain. Funnily enough, Vallion was the one thing she never had to worry about when igniting great swathes of air. He was too familiar with her techniques and far too nimble to ever be clipped by one of her attacks. It was to such a point that he could win every single sparring match they had together when training. Even in past situations where she had to unleash her powers on as wide an area as possible, the Servine knew to stick directly on her back as to have the Heat Wave merely pass around him. 

All the while they continued to roughen their throats from shouting into the surrounding trees, only managing to roughen their morale as the exact same sound bounced back at them. The sky had turned completely black with the exception of being modestly speckled with a few stars. Anxiety began to breed in her chest at the continued silence the mountain gave them. What if the Growlithe and Ledyba really didn't come to this place to begin with? What if they had, and already met with a fate that would be absolutely heartbreaking to report back with? Nothing could be confirmed until they completely lapped the mountain and scoured all of its surface, but every turn that held nothing was another percentage more towards the possibility that they were too slow. 

"Woah!" Vallion exclaimed suddenly in the lull between calls, causing her to swing around and point the torch in the direction of his stare. 

"What? What!?" The Braixen peered into that same blackness and found nothing in the light and even less beyond it. She expected a dangerous foe to be emerging from beyond the scratchy brush, or some supernatural phenomenon that confirmed all of the fear that was like lead in the bottom of their stomachs. It was uncertain whether a whole lot of nothing was any preferable to either. 

He turned to her, his surprise quickly melting away into a look of speculation. "I swear I just saw an Unown passing through those trees over there. At least, it was uncomfortably close to what looked like one... Actually, maybe it was just a hallucination from how stressed out I am. That makes a lot more sense than seeing an Unown in the middle of the Water Continent." 

"Oh! No, it was probably an Unown. I saw one earlier today as far south as the tiny forest you had me search below the village. I forgot to tell you about it because, well, we've been a little too busy for me to remember. I suppose it's a little more relevant now that we're here, isn't it?" Panne retreated to his back and began to scan the treeline as far as her torch could illuminate. It was likely never a good thing for Unown to be found so far from where they should, not that they were very familiar with the happening. There was always the chance that its appearance could mean they were being watched by something a little more sinister than a territorial pokemon. 

Vallion's wonder fell to wariness as her movements reminded him of that danger. "You think? Do you realize that there are no ruins on this whole continent that even have Unown? One individual I could believe, they stray from their places of origin all the time, but I somehow doubt that was the same one as earlier if the way things have been going are any indicator." 

"I mean, there's always a chance it could really be the same one and we're just overreacting to it twice," she said and moved her torch deeper between a few trees. The longer she held it there and glanced about the motionless brush, the more it felt as though that the thought was denial instead of logic. "..So you think it has something to do with the dreams, then?" 

"That's probably a given. I see no other reason for a pokemon like that to be out here. As much as I'd like to believe that the threats directed towards me were empty, I can't help but feel like whatever we're dealing with knows very well what it’s doing with the things it controls. Stay on your toes, we need to find these kids as soon as possible." 

As their altitude increased still, so too did the strength of the enemies that rose to squash their meddling efforts. Worst of all, in the corners of their eyes always would shift the same vague movement in the trees that they were certain wasn't a product of their own. It had to be more Unown, hadn't it? Not that they could ever catch a good enough glimpse to confirm or deny anything about them, only that every time it happened the pit of her stomach seemed to twist into knots. They ended up fearing the harmless characters more than the hardened beasts that made this harsh place their home. It was actually reassuring whenever a pokemon three times their size burst from the silence to try and maim them. At least the threat was obvious then and not some peripheral twitch energized by the horrible visions she knew hardly anything about. 

The peak of Revelation Mountain wasn't far from here, meaning they were rapidly running out of area to search. Despite its enormity, there were only so many places a child could plausibly be on its side. Even if the Ledyba were old enough to reliably fly decent distances, surely it knew not to attempt the vast distance between here and the village, most of all abandoning its friend in this wilderness. If neither of them were revealed by the time they stepped onto the mountain's zenith, surely their meandering would be for naught. But they had to be up here, it was the last possible place to look. Wouldn't she at least find their bodies if something terrible had happened? 

"Growlithe!" Panne called out into the blackness with a hoarse desperation, and the excitement she first fed upon had corrupted into panic. Her legs felt as though they were going to collapse below her with every climbing leap. "Ledyba!" There was still no reply besides the bouncing resonation of her own voice off the distant landscape. "Growlithe! Ledyba!" 

Then came something echoing back that didn't come from her mouth. Both of them froze at the high-pitched response, a mixture equal parts hope and caution twisted in their chests. What if the noise was unrelated and a trick of their tired minds? Even worse, what if the reply was a lure made by something with the uncanny ability to mimic a younger person? Something clever, maybe something patient that had been hunting them for the past two hours. Vallion called out again with the intention of garnering a similar response, and it had come back now with two more voices rather than one. Either they were up against the perfect predators that had laid the ultimate trap for them, or they had finally find the kids they were looking for. 

Following the direction took them to a much more risky section of mountainside than what they would have thought to check, further urging a great deal of deliberation in each step, for both the sheer drop on one side and the possible ambush that could be ahead. A difficult task considering they had a mere two feet of room to walk without a vertical dirt cliff falling away or shooting straight up. It wasn't until they started getting closer to the source that the despair in the voices started to give them sincerity. The corner of earth they eventually came to was extremely well-hidden by a wall of ivy, revealed by the shadows the vegetation produced on the other side. The voices were clear now, they were here. Panne swallowed the rest of her inhibitions for that single moment and pushed torch-first into the concave to whatever awaited them within. It was a sigh of relief. 

The Ledyba and Growlithe seconded the notion as they emerged from the corner which had hid them until help could finally arrive. Even Vallion seemed to be refreshed from having been wracked with anxiety the whole day, slumping down to catch a much-needed breath as the Braixen planted the torch deep into the ground so that she could examine the kids. Neither seemed to be harmed in any way, at least not majorly enough that it would require more medical care than just time itself. Which was good, because they pretty much only had some painkiller herbs and a roll of gauze between the both of them to treat any dangerous wounds. Now was the best possible time to report back that all was well. 

"Panne, we should set up camp first," the Servine interrupted her fumbling around in her bag, a vine coming to stay her hand from completely pulling out the exploration gadget. 

"Wait, camp? ON the mountain? With... ah." There was no way they were going to safely leave for home in the middle of the night having already been this high up. He was right, their best bet was to wait out the darkness and descend once first light came. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't be such a grim fate to have, but there was definitely something else about this place that made it darker than usual. Not even the time they had climbed down after breaking free of Yveltal's scheme had quite the same feeling as the one that weighed the air down now. 

It didn't take much to get the kids up and moving, anything was surely better than sitting in a cold blackness and listening to the distant roars of newly-agitated inhabitants. Instead of heading onto the ledge they could barely scale by themselves, there seemed to be an alternate path up that was a cliff with enough possible grips to be viably climbed. There was no where else to go but up, anyway. Panne took up the torch with the assistance of some minor telekinesis and lead the way up the slanted wall of crumbling stones while Vallion helped the Growlithe's meek ascent. The Ledyba, whose physiology had the fortunate inclusion of wings, simply hovered nearby while the rest of them rose. The Braixen had began to calmly explain their situation and how they would be staying here until dawn came, hiding her own dissatisfaction of the idea between grunts of effort. They didn't seem too thrilled about it, either, but they lacked an argument for wading through the inky night and waiting for invisible things to burst from every direction. 

A clearing soon became apparent as their footing began to even out. Gripping root and stem to make the final distance, Panne could raise a hand to grip the levitating makeshift torch and held it higher so that the others could see. By virtue of moonlight, the stone tablet in the center of the field became somewhat visible, carved with an ancient language she could barely comprehend if she didn't think about it. Behind it was surely a dirt pit overcome with vegetation that was impossible to see from this angle. Or perhaps, the rains had filled it once more with mundane waters rather than mystical ones that supposedly would have cured petrification. This was as good a place to stay as any on this rock. 

At least they hadn't found any trouble quickly gathering up dry fuel to start a real fire. The setting up of camp was such a routine activity that it hardly took the two of them a twitch of a thought process to access the muscle memory. That meant more brain power could be dedicated to worrying about an unexplained shuffling in the woods or pondering whether they would sleep at all tonight. Of course, a large portion of that freedom was redirected still to staving off the gnawing hunger in their stomachs. Nobody had much of an appetite after last night, but it had been plenty long enough since then to feel that resurgence of pain. 

Everything was set, the two overwhelmed children were present, and Panne could finally relegate her latest torch to the firepit and breath her own brand of fiery life into it. Sparks quickly gave way to cinders as very specific bursts of energy were poured into very specific places in the pile of flammable materials. Oxygen was fed generously into the smoke's meager origin, and in no time at all had it birthed the beginnings of a flame worthy of warming them. Everyone sat around the new heat and consoled their weariness before they could answer any painful yearnings for food. The nervous souls waiting back at Serene Village will probably have to steel themselves for just a little while longer. 

"What are you guys even doing up here? Your families are worried sick, and this place is the most dangerous possible choice you could have snuck off to," Vallion spoke as he dropped his backpack to the ground and extended a vine over to snatch Panne's, reaching in and setting aside the gadget before bringing forth the fruit-infused rolls of bread everyone craved the most. "Surely the risks must have been obvious. It's kinda common sense not to go up here, I'm sure you didn't need to be told that this was a bad idea." 

The Growlithe's mumbles were swallowed by the crackling fire, but Ledyba had successfully recovered enough composure to speak before stuffing his mouth. "We wanted to see what was up here. We learned about Dark Matter a week ago and Growlithe said he didn't really believe that there was anything on top of the mountain. But he was too scared to go up here and check for himself, he just kept saying that there was nothing. It took until this morning for him to finally think for himself and want to come up here." 

"It's your fault we're stuck up here to begin with. Just because you had to be right," the Growlithe muttered a little louder, just barely audible enough so that it got across. 

"Hey! If you hadn't insisted on being so stubborn and turning away everything everyone said, then maybe I wouldn't have had to make fun of you for it! Literally everyone in the village said it was true!" 

They looked like they were about to go for the other's throats before a startlingly loud crack reverberated through the air. It made even her jump, the Vine Whip effortlessly interrupting their bickering before it could escalate any further. "Enough, unless you'd both like to go hungry. It doesn't matter who's to blame so long as you're both stuck in the same mystery dungeon in the middle of the night. If you're not going to cooperate in a time like this, it'd be quicker to just jump from the mountain and hit the ground. This is serious." That silenced them fine, plenty long enough for him to begin passing out food before partaking in dinner himself. 

And so they ate, mostly in silence from the sheer desire to shove every delicious crumb down their throat. Panne managed to finish off the overzealous bite she immediately took and found the time to speak while everyone else was occupied chewing. "Well? Does it look like what you learned about happened here or what? I must admit, it was more a slaughter than it was a struggle. Watchog probably romanticized the whole thing, so you were likely right to take what he said with a pinch of salt, but most of it must have been decently accurate. Dying is just about as awful feeling as you would think it is." 

Ledyba quickly swallowed a bite to respond. "What? You guys didn't do it! It was a Snivy and a Fennekin that.. that..." First his eyes lit up, then the Growlithe's as he nearly spit out what was in his mouth in surprise. The fire's reflection glittered as they stared in awe at the celebrities before them. "Oh my god, wait! You- and- and both- Oh my god! I didn't even think- !" 

"Yeah. I don't know what he told your class, but it's a lot easier to hear the story from the people who were there to live it. And die from it, too, I suppose. Shouldn't take being lost near the peak of Revelation Mountain for me to recommend you not doing that," Vallion said between mouthfuls. "In fact, I bet you I could probably one-up his story. Like how the world was effectively doomed to fall into the sun because of what happened in this very spot. No joke, literally everyone that was alive and would have ever lived nearly were all killed from the repercussions of the events right here." 

Where they had used to be timid and distressed before, suddenly both the kids were positively beaming to have been rescued by the heroes of legend, or at least a legend that was steadily forming underneath their noses. They started to take turns between eating to ask wild questions about the adventure that happened eight years ago. In turn, the Braixen and Servine were forced to take similar shifts answering unless one knew something more important than the delicious crumbling chunks of razzbread and refreshing gulps of water chilled by the altitude's air. Things came to the surface like who the great betrayer was (which they steered away from for Nuzleaf's sake), what it was like to be petrified and effectively dead, even up to the events of their final confrontation in the Tree of Life. Apparently all of this was subject to great debate in the current class, and this was all intensely controversial among them. 

Time melted away, faces were stuffed until they ran out of bread, and already tired voices were strained even further towards being lost. After each inquisitive push Vallion tried to deflect attention from himself and slip away so that he could finally call Carracosta, but still the children were too engrossed with fantastical inaccuracies for him to succeed. At least, not until he devised an inquiry of his own while he was stuck in this endless swarm of questions. "Say, what finally gave you the confidence to go through with this in the first place, Growlithe? I understand you were pretty reluctant before this morning, and you don't seem the type to turn around like that." 

"Well, uh. I don't know if it's really a good excuse, but I had a really weird dream of the mountain and woke up in the middle of the night because of it. I don't remember exactly what was in it, but I got so curious afterward that I wasn't scared at all of going through with this. And since I couldn't get to sleep again because I couldn't stop thinking about it I decided to wake Ledyba up and finally see what was up here." 

"Wait a minute. I had that dream, too!" the Ledyba exclaimed excitedly. "It's why I was already awake to see you come to my window! Even though I felt a little sick and was still tired, I wanted to try getting here more than I cared about any of that. Now that we're already here, though, I don't know why I felt like that. It was a really stupid idea in retrospect." 

Vallion's expression turned to iron. She felt it as well, the mutual chill that went up their spines and caused them to shudder. Indeed, the last thing they wanted to hear was more about suspicious dreams, and especially ones that were so plainly manipulative. Even the fire seemed to shrink away as the Servine hummed dismissively with the gadget in hand. He tried to look away, unable to stow the grim realization that dawned on his expression. "I'm going to call the village and report that you're both safe." With that cold statement, he started to walk off away from the light and warmth, stopping within brooding distance of their camp and sitting himself down on the spot. The kids seemed confused, she felt only concern as the Connection Orb gently illuminated the Servine's slumped form. It took Panne a few more moments still to rise and slowly move towards him. Anything was better than letting him stew on this. 

"We made it ... everyone's present ... tomorrow ..." his quiet words were obscured by the sound of her own footsteps up until she was nearly upon him. Then, Pops' deep voice started to become apparent coming through the speaker. Then a different one, asking if they could see their child. He turned the device so that its receiver was facing the fire, the two kids chatting away at a declining pace. It wouldn't be long from now that they start dozing off since there was some food in their systems and safety all around them. The voice in the phone was delighted, soaked with relief at the sight. The only person who was left dissatisfied was Carracosta, who asked where Panne had gone. 

She put herself in front of the camera. "Hey, Pops." There was little hiding her crestfallen mood, but it may have just come off as being as inexplicably exhausted as she really was. Whether he could tell them apart or not, Pops seemed satisfied with the reply and wished them a safe return tomorrow. The remaining exchange was negligible compared to the dread in the air that everyone through the receiver couldn't detect. The transmission ended, and suddenly the darkness around them felt claustrophobic. 

The two sat in silence for a good while afterward, feeling that gravity start to weigh on the very air they tried to swallow. It would be Panne, in all her remaining optimism, to speak out against the atmosphere that tried to suffocate them. "Something probably wanted us up here. I can't imagine this is all a coincidence, but now we're stuck here regardless in a stirring forest. That's not really as bad as it seems, it's not like they locked us in a room or dropped a boulder in front of a cave entrance." 

He nodded slightly. "It feels too unnatural around here. The Unown could be drawn to it, causing it, maybe even trying to stop it. Not that we're any safer if the latter is true since we're standing in nearly the epicenter. Whatever wanted us here wanted us HERE, not anywhere else on the mountain." A sigh was pushed from his lungs, and a single cough followed. 

"Sleep's out of the question, huh?" Panne said as she scooted closer, a posture meant to be more defensive than it was comforting. All day she'd been trying to soothe his anxiety with little success, what difference could she possibly make now? 

"You couldn't make me pass out if you bashed me in the side of the head." Vallion stared out into the woods the same as he did into the corners of the room after having been woken up from his nightmare. He searched for the evil that coerced them up here, the same that knew his humanity and surely sought to exploit it. Whether it was many mortal presences or something else entirely, the execution of its trap was unfortunately flawless. He spoke up again. "I'd be like you and hope that whatever it is just wanted to talk, but if you saw what it had shown me, then there's no chance even you'd think that." 

"Well we'll just have to stay up and fight it off, won't we? The cowards only tried to fight one of us while we both were sleeping, they'd hardly expect us to be so powerful while awake. Anyone dumb enough to take us on won't be infecting people's dreams anymore." 

The Servine hummed in acknowledgement, but not affirmation. It was practically the exact opposite thing she wanted to hear: a neutral response. Had he been wakeful and energetic, their confidence would be bolstered by the other and they would easily steel through the night with a mutual strength to lean on. Had his reaction been apathetic as if he couldn't hear her at all, it meant that he was desperately trying to piece together the solution and was mentally tackling the problem to the best of his abilities. But this, this voice only happens in the kinds of situations where they were waiting for the Society to come rescue them. He had already surrendered to the demonic entity in the woods. It must have threatened plenty of people he loved, but it would only take one for him to fall into his tragic hero mood. That was something he had never grown out of. 

But he found words again, pulling her attention from the motionless grass at their legs. "Hey Panne," Vallion began in a soft and frighteningly helpless tone. "You think I should do my plan now? I mean, just in case I don't get the chance to later." 

"Hush. There will always be a later. I will make sure of that." She moved to sock him in the side for his pessimism, but her arm couldn't find nearly enough force to do anything but gently place a hand on him. The pity she held from his words ravaged through her chest like a drill, a powerful enough pain to put a shakiness into her breathing and threatened to bring up tears. She would do all she could to make sure there was a later, but nothing seemed to kill this despair. 

"I know. It's just that, if I don't-" 

"You will!" 

"It's just that now is as good a time as ever to not have any regrets," he continued, and he dared even further after she shot him a look of disapproval. "Isn't it better to get things off your chest while you can? I wanted to do this on the hill to make it a little more symbolic, but with all this peril, this uncertainty-- maybe now is an even better time to do it. I'd say those give this the opportunity to be even more romantic, depending on how you look at it." 

Where Panne had tried hard to sound strong before, now there was no hope to disguise the contagious sorrow. "Val, please. You said that you would wait for the right time to do it. Please don't settle for less just because you're scared." 

"But maybe..." His eyes sharpened, becoming closer to what she knew before. "Maybe the best time would naturally be when I wouldn't expect, exactly like this. When hope hasn't quite been lost yet, but it's begun to wane so considerably that I don't even want to fight back anymore. Why hold back when the next moment could very well be your last, you know? It's this kind of situation that makes that sentiment real." 

Maybe it was. The spark that died in him seemed to reignite at the idea, and the cynicism appeared to be burning away from its renewed intensity. One last nod to himself in concluded introspection was all he needed to take a confident stance and gesture for her to wait there. The Braixen stared at his back the entire way back towards the fire, knowing exactly the thing he was running off to fetch. Intrigue gripped her as the faint sound of a zipper carried over the distance, she couldn't help it. A preparatory sigh traveled to her ears next over the crackling fire. It couldn't be denied that the mood had changed considerably because of this sudden revelation, though the air certainly didn't get any thinner from it. 

He sat back down next to her, the familiar woven bag held dearly in both his vines and close to his heart. His expression was completely different to what it was before. To relieve a huge portion of the pressure he was cracking under, it all suddenly started to make sense to her. "This might take a little bit of explanation. Or, uh, most of it is going to be explanation. I told myself back when I learned this bag had made it that our second night back was absolutely going to be the time I do it. While I didn't expect any of this to happen, I'm technically still upholding that promise by caving in like this, so.. I'm going to do it." 

A nervous laugh escaped him as he sent a vine to feel around in the sack for the precious object that was hidden away within. When he paused, his breathing faltered again and shook incredibly, so he decided to hold his breath instead. Slowly he unveiled the treasure and motioned to hand it to her. "Panne, will you marry me?" 

"What?" She looked down at what was being held before her, squinting through the dimness to determine its limp form. Her eyes were first to grow wide, then a gasp started a tingling wave of surprise through her limbs like a billowing fire. The dark green of the cloth was fleshed out with brighter diagonal stripes matching in thickness. "Wh- What!?" The Braixen grabbed hold of the scarf and ran her fingertips across its fabric, or what would have been fabric had it not been so authentic. Instead what came rushing back was memories of the smooth material that was wrapped around her neck before the world ended. "How did you get this!? I- wh- what!?" 

"It's real. Look," he said, and pulled from his bag a matching square of cloth. "They're not made of the same heartleaves as the first, but they're close enough. It still took three years of work and begging for Xerneas to even give me the benefit of a doubt, let alone these subpar materials from a lower branch. We're certainly not going to get any superpowers from them, but the entire idea is that it's the thought that counts. And that these things are still half-indestructible." 

She was speechless, drowning in disbelief at the existence of the physical object she held in her very hands. It really was a true scarf like before, but it felt as though she were already in a dream. There were a million questions and exclamations resting on the tip of her tongue and waiting for air to be made real. None would be given life, as she hadn't the composure to take in another breath at all. Her eyes closed like her fingers around the material in the comprehending lull. When the Braixen did start to breath again, it was like trying to fill her lungs with water. Everyone on the planet, her most of all, owed their lives to the scarf that was exactly like this one. Then they had disappeared forever to reinstate her life, and now they were in her hand once again. 

"Well.." Panne finally began from her daze. "I suppose I should ask you why.. why you've went so far out of your way to get these. Xerneas doesn't even let people within a mile of the same island as the Tree of Life, much less actually take a piece of it back home as a fashion accessory. What's this all about?" her reply was winded, like even holding this object was sapping the air straight from her lungs. It was a texture she never thought she would feel ever again. It seemed invertedly more fragile than it was, like tugging just a little too hard would split it in two, but you could catch a fall with one of these things. Whereas any other cloth would have an obvious stitching when examined so closely, she could feel the cells of the leaf it had come from against her fingers. 

Vallion gulped down another lungful of bravery before meeting her eyes and unveiling his gentlest voice. "It was.. around four years ago that I started to remember human concepts. Things that have been wiped from my mind for centuries suddenly started popping back into my head like subtle little ideas. Nothing too specific, just vague remnants of a society I was supposed to be a part of before this world beckoned to me at some point. Usually they were spurred on by random scriptures that Mawile translated, or things I had always seen that suddenly felt as though they had different meanings than before. Most don't make it very far, but there was one that I latched onto so strongly that I started to remember its specifics. Well, the process of the topic. I can't recall anything from the life I was living before this one. Maybe the one with Mew was the only other. 

"Regardless, the idea of marriage was the thing I had spontaneously recalled and pursued. See, marriage is like, uh.. It's kind of like a ritual you would do when you wanted to be with someone forever. It was a religious thing, you were literally supposed to go with that person to the afterlife if you got married. I think. I'm not sure if any of those parts would still work since this earth doesn't even have a religion that would coincide with it. I mean, it's also not that we really NEED the thing to prove our commitment to one another, because that's another thing marriage was used for. And we're not doing anything political, so... 

"A-anyway, you would have to propose to someone with one of two matching rings so that you could both wear one. Or at least, that's what I remember of it. Since I lack any fingers in general, I had to rule that one out and think of something different I could use to mark us a pair. I started to think of wearable things that could stand the test of time, so of course the scarves were the first thing that came to mind. Those could survive being thrown through a thousand years on top of all the abuse we laid on them, but I didn't expect at all to have two more made. It was one of the hardest long-term fights I've fought, but here we are now, holding these silly little handkerchiefs like they are pure platinum." 

He swallowed a lump in his throat and struggled to suppress a coughing fit for a short while, his vines fidgeting anxiously with the scarf. "I wanted this to be like when you first gave me yours. The way it felt when you opened up to me, that was basically the general spirit of proposing to someone. You could say that we already got married before this, but there's usually a little more to the ritual than just the beginning part." 

Panne held the cloth close to her chest and remembered to breath once more. "Val.." Where before the surrounding forest was filled with uncertainty and creeping terror, now she couldn't hear over the heavy thumping of her own heart. This little scheme he had been planning for years, all the favors he asked for beneath her nose so that it would all still be a surprise, even the coercing of an immortal just to make this single moment more concrete and meaningful-- it was overwhelming. 

The Servine looked towards the ground, more flustered than he's been in years. It was just like when they had first admit to their love all that time ago. Back when he was a swirling, embarrassed little storm of uncertainty and underexpressed emotions waiting for her to make the move. "I know it's kind of a worthless notion. I don't even remember what you're supposed to say during the later parts, or what happens in them. And of course, we don't need any of this at all to prove things we already know. I just thought that it would be fitting to have human vows between us, you know? It all sounds pretty stupid now that I've explained it, and I probably messed up a lot somewhere in the middle." His head avoided contact with any part of her, his voice was beginning to grow more emotional. "I really should have did this on the hill. There's only ever one opportunity for me to do this, I probably wasted it doing it up here. Oh..." 

Her embrace was one immense with sheer intent and blooming emotion. Slowly did she lean forward as her arms slipped around him, making sure every inch of the motion brushed her fur gingerly against his cold skin until the sides of their heads finally pressed together, scarf still tight in her hand. Panne could feel tears beating on the insides of her eyelids as their combined warmth began to fight against the numbing night air. "None of that. This gift is wonderful, this moment is wonderful. You, you are the most wonderful thing in on the face of the planet. We could have been caught in a hailstorm and I still would love it with every fiber of my being. Of course I'll marry you, you corny dweeb." 

The following kiss did not take place within a single interval, but every time they parted to cough or to refill their shallow lungs they would simply come together again. In these fleeting seconds, there was no care for the malevolent presence that felt as though it would soon descend upon them. They could easily ignore the worsening allergic reaction they were having to that same entity’s powers. If she were to be completely candid, she had even somewhat forgotten about the two children who had found slumber beside the dying fire, but just for the now. There was nothing but them and the twinkling stars in the sky that seemed to be growing dimmer as time passed. It was all just like before, and the dam of her tears had finally burst. 

Their return to the embers' side wasn't at all rushed, for it felt as though all time in the world converged on this point. They fit the new scarves excitedly to the other's neck and admired the look they lost during their first stage of evolution. So much had happened over the past few years that she had forgotten what the sensation of when she was just a kid. To remember this ancient texture against the fur of her neck was enough to make the dreamy moment real. Vallion seemed to have vastly improved emotionally as well, unphased by how they'd been degrading physically and how the grave situation they were in was coming to a fever pitch. The same thing would have probably happened regardless of whether he went through with his plan or not. There wasn't any reason to obsess over the incoming fight now, the possible future where it became impossible for him to propose was avoided entirely. It would have probably still been a satisfying death if they died right then and there. 

And soon, it very nearly felt as though that would be the case. The symptoms became more severe the longer they huddled together by the meager warmth her tiny fire provided; not enough to debilitate them, but plenty to begin weighing down on their eyelids and infesting their throats. Not that it mattered much to her, but the children also started to toss and turn in their sleep because of the evil influence. Seeing that brought her a little closer back to earth, in turn rousing a pang of fear at how quickly things were deteriorating. Cloud nine or not, they still had the task of bringing those two back to the village unharmed. And besides, even if they were both happy enough to pass away blissfully, that definitely didn't mean they should. A difficult battle was surely approaching, she should probably go bring more fuel for the fire. 

Yet the progression of their sickness did not let up in the slightest, and soon they only had the strength to huddle together and concentrate on not passing out. Vallion was quickly beginning to droop into unconsciousness beside her, his coughs rattled his frame but were completely useless in keeping him awake. That seed of fear began to grow within her chest where the warmth of love had once been. Panne began to shake him in a more desperate attempt to ward away the spell, but to no avail. His eyes still dipped every second closer to shutting entirely. "I love you," the Servine muttered and surrendered the rest of his mass into her. And just like that, she was the only one of them all that was left awake. The prevalence of the cloth around her neck had settled into the background of the burning in her throat. 

She tried to stand, but a wave of nausea smashed into her guts and her legs felt as though they were twigs waiting to snap. Taking shaky posture of his collapsed form, she struggled to raise an arm and shouted at whatever glared at them from beyond the treeline. "Stay away...! Get away... from us!" A flurry of hacking split her words and forced her to keel over with a hand barely extended still. Not even panic could give her the might to muster more than a puff of smoke that dissipated to the breeze alone. 

It wasn't long until she couldn't even keep standing in place. Fatigue assisted generously as the itch in her throat knocked out her leg muscles and pressed her to the ground. All that remained of her last stream of energy was the will to cling to Vallion and cover his body with her own, all the while halfheartedly praying that it would be enough to shield him from the presence. Maybe, since his dream did not continue after having woke him up last night, she really did manage to protect him? It had to be, there was no longer any other choice. So long as she held breath and blood, nothing on this planet would dare to touch her Servine! They were going to bring the children back to their parents unharmed! They were going to get married and... and they were going to... they...


	4. The Kids of Serene Village

With a sudden, jerking start fueled by the lingering concoction of fear in her blood, Panne gasped and fell into a fit coughing and gagging. Panne curled up against the grass as she made the transition from terror to comprehending the terrible condition of her body. From the burning in the back of her sinuses to the nearly lethal swelling of her throat, all the way down to the lungs filled with mucus and desperate for larger gulps of oxygen. She wasn't sure whether she preferred this to floating in the blackness while an abyss of faces screamed unintelligible hatred at her. A second fit of shuddering stole the strength from her knees and once more put her to the dirt, either from recollection of the nightmare or simple draining illness. The morning had plainly come, but how many hours of that torture did she have to endure to get here? 

Just as quickly did her weakness disappear as she realized the gravity of the situation she was in, a reminder given by the smooth texture that wrapped around her enflamed neck. Watery eyes shooting open, the Braixen jumped to a stand and searched for any sign of her Servine. There lay both Ledyba and Growlithe, shivering similarly from the spiraling dream they were caught in. There was the black and grey remains of a fire, long since stripped of heat. Those and herself were the only foreign things that remained in the brightening grotto. A different kind of anxiety took up arms with pestilence in her chest and added to the trauma. 

"Val.. Val!" her voice was shattered and meek, someone ten feet away wouldn't have been able to hear it. Just like when she tried to scream in the nightmare. But unlike it, Panne still had domain over the physical realm enough to scramble forward and continue that same labored call with an unresponsive respiratory system. "Val! Where are you!?" Back down to the grass she collapsed again with itching in her throat and fatigue in her limbs, yet it was the world that she felt was falling to pieces. She was certain that the creature which stalked them last night had struck in their sleep, and had effortlessly claimed what it came for because of it. That alone was enough to restore partial control over her own body and perpetuate the hope that Vallion simply wandered off. 

The direction she took into the woods was aimless, and maintaining that panicked sprint quickly becoming far more challenging than it should have been once the terrain became dense. There were limits being pressed that she wasn't even aware of as the mountain delivered its verticality in full. The vines she grabbed ahold of with quivering arms felt as though they weren't the ones going to snap from the weight. There were no trails, at least none she could see with this blurry vision. No scents to follow, for her nose was long-lost to the accursed ethereal pollen this evil thing could create. He hadn't even had an opportunity to mark a tree or drop his scarf in the direction he was stolen. And now, her diminishing shouts couldn't even reach far enough to echo from the vast environment. She might as well have been aggressively whispering at the ground to return her lover. 

It wasn't until Panne threw herself down a slope and nearly tumbled to her death at the edge of a forty-foot drop that logic began to take its rightful place in her head. Heart thoroughly grinding to a halt, she remembered to take a shallow breath before slowly peering over the ledge and absorbing its consequence. Her eyes followed the distance until she looked out at the intensely forested valley between this mountain and the next. Morning mists flit all about the lowest points like clouds that wanted only to sleep for a little longer. Following the thought, there were quite a few more clouds in the sky than was usual of this time of year, even in the middle of the Water Continent. Probability told that it was just a few fragments of northern weather that was pushed south, but her own superstition insisted it was an omen of the terrible day to come. 

After taking an extremely cautious and questionable stand, the Braixen mustered as best a sigh as she could without choking on her own lungs before started lethargically back towards camp. Something told her that the trip home was going to be an extremely arduous one with the apparent difficulty of this crippled state. There was no longer any time to search, not with kids in the equation at least. Whoever stole Vallion used them as bait and left both to fend for themselves in the middle of a mystery dungeon. She doubted they even cared for their safety, the despicable creature. Surely whatever reasons they have aren't justified at all after using such dirty means of obtaining what they wanted. For these things, her fireworks will absolutely be more than just for intimidation. 

Both the children were stirring by the time she had made her way back, and the horrified looks of their faces told chapters of the dreams they had been subject to. She dragged herself all the way over to the pit and wordlessly slung both her own bag and Val's over her shoulder, not for lack of anything to say, but that she probably couldn't muster more than an uncomfortable wheeze without leagues of effort. The weight seemed double what it should have been, and not just since she was carrying both their backpacks. At least they were going downhill from here, right? It's not like she had to deal with all this turmoil while fighting against gravity as well. 

"Hey lady," the Growlithe shook himself from the daze to speak up with a degree of scratchiness far lesser than her own. The entity probably did have to physically move her in order to get at Vallion, after all. "When are we going to go home? I don't feel so good... And where did the Servine go? Aren't you two supposed to be partners?" 

She struggled to push out an audible reply. "We're leaving now. Don't.. don't worry about him, we'll meet back up again eventually. Right now, we just have to focus on getting you back home." 

While Growlithe seemed horrified at the sound of her ravaged voice, Ledyba was only reminded of the poor state of things. "Man, we're all getting colds from sleeping up here. I TOLD you this was a bad idea. How could it not be? And I already hate it up here anyway, can we just hurry up and get moving?" 

Even if she possibly could, there was no arguing with that. A terrible gloom had indeed made itself conspicuous in the atmosphere over what should have been a pleasant morning, like they were still somehow inside the nightmare all along. On second thought, she really didn't want to mull over it on the off-chance that it were true. The begrudging party dusted themselves off in the following instant and started towards the thinnest visible part of the treeline. Panne took one glance back into the clearing as they prepared to plunge back into the dungeon, mouthing to the lover who wasn't there that she would return as soon as possible. 

It took only the first few slopes for her to feel winded and nauseous enough to warrant a rest. While the cloth around her neck didn't make it easy to ignore that angered part of her body, it reminded keenly to continue on regardless of how poorly she felt. The sooner these kids were escorted back to the village safe and sound, the sooner she could begin the journey back here to stage yet another daring rescue. For unlike these two, the absent-minded indigenous pokemon weren't the only thing Vallion was threatened by. A much greater and more malevolent power was at work for every second they were apart, one that apparently needed a human's soul to function. Yes, this was surely going to be the day the Braixen worked herself to death. Not that she hadn't tried plenty times before. 

A short drop in altitude and a few attempts at vomiting later, they were still left untouched by the mystery dungeon's inhabitants. She apparently made a decent enough impression last night to carve a clear path of enemies the following day. That was good, as it wouldn't take much at all to meet her match while her body continued to react so strongly to whatever weird energy this was. An Oddish could probably topple her without much effort if things were to follow this trend of worsening. The war with her own self was a losing one that was being made more severe by the effort of climbing downward. Her already doomed throat became dry from the rapid breaths she had to take for sufficient air, and their canteens were equally as barren. And with all this dry heaving she was doing, dehydration was going to become a real threat on top of everything else. It was all going to lead up to an effective suicide at this rate. 

The kids eventually both seemed more worried for her than for the dangerous landscape they traversed. At times, the Ledyba even had to assist her in crawling down the steeper faces of soil and jutting root. Growlithe also played a part in keeping her from dropping to her death by taking one of the two bags and sharing the weight. She must have looked about as horrid as she felt, both physically and emotionally wracked. They were all still so far from the village, yet it was very plainly one of those times where the only winning move was not to play. Of course, not playing was never an option, unfortunately. 

Vallion would have wanted her to persevere like this. Well, maybe not quite this hard. Despite it all, he was still probably worrying more about her than even himself while in the midst of being captured. As a sudden pocket of pain burst open in her shoulder, Ledyba was standing by to support her weight and make sure a faltering grip didn't turn into an unstoppable tumble. More carefully did she work her way down to solid ground while the random hurt radiated away for the same lack of reason as it appeared. There were few concerns about her own safety in the moment, even less about the presence up on the mountain. Only the mouthed pledge that the Servine would be back in her arms by tomorrow morning. 

 

The dirt path grew wider by the second, but even then it felt better to withhold hope and remain as numb as possible. It was the only way she could keep going, feeling anything at all other than mindless determination would remind that this energy in use was entirely artificial. Panne could barely understand what her eyes saw anymore, partly for the swelling and otherwise complete lack of attention. What should have been a familiar stretch of road was reduced to a primal input-- the direction her feet were meant to drag. It hardly even registered that Serene Village finally came into view, but her followers were somehow ecstatic enough to run forward and meet the sight on borrowed strength. Home wasn't the place she was supposed to be right now, the directive on her mind shifted to its next phase. 

"Panne!" Pops' call was finally enough to put an end to the momentum that moved the stilts she called legs. She stood still and tried to focus her vision again, a mistake that thoroughly shattered the trance which was acting in the same way bones supported a body. The Braixen all at once comprehended the hollow suffering in her torso and where pain should have been but was muted in her tendons. Her crumbling to the ground was inevitable as gravity increased tenfold. Carracosta rushed to her now earthbound form, but everything else mostly fell back out of focus as she tried hard to regurgitate nothing. The will to fight off the spots in her eyes was merely due to that, if she passed out now, there was a good chance she'd awaken far too late to rescue Vallion. 

Her father's concern went in one ear and out the other for the most part. More people started to gather from what it seemed, probably due to the loud exclamations of the parents who were already waiting at the entrance. But as they were delighted to see that the children had been returned, those who were observant began to notice that something was wrong with the pokemon who brought them back in the first place. And through her overexertion and dazed senses, Nuzleaf's arrival and subsequent investigation spoke leagues more than she possibly could. "Wait, where's Vallion? Wouldn't he-... You're wearing one of the...!" 

"I don't know," she said between breaths heavier than iron, the sound which came forth was like another person entirely was speaking through her. If it were recorded and played back, nobody would guess that it was her own. "The mountain- Ngh!" 

Using Carracosta's frame as support more than her own legs, they began to limp back into town before anything definitive could be delivered with her mostly worthless tongue. Practically the entire village was buzzing because of the arrivals, but just as soon was it murmuring with concern at the ragdoll Braixen who couldn't even stand by herself anymore. By proxy, there were plenty who started also to question the Servine's obvious absence. They had only made it to the center before she had finally faltered enough to slump back down, and that crowd of troubled friendly faces Pops was forced to part so that she might have a little more room to breath. Not that it helped much, her lungs were ready to shrivel up and die regardless of how much fresh air was available. 

"Water! Will someone get her some water?" shouted her father to the gazing audience, who scattered partway to complete the command made with his undeniable, desperate tone. Everything blurred together like running paint as she tried to process most of what was going on. Maybe everyone was overreacting a little too much, it's not like she walked through hell and back on the way here. The trudge back itself was almost completely uneventful, only made this horrible by her continued allergic reaction to some untouchable energy. All her perceptions suddenly realigned when a glass of cool liquid touched the end of her maw, to which she swiftly grabbed hold and revelled in it traveling down her ruined throat. She could at least take solace in its revitalizing chill where the rest of her ached. 

It was Simipour who first approached as the last of the water drained into the back of her mouth, he slipped through the many bodies that stood in anxious awe. "Now Panne, I realize that you must feel positively dreadful at the moment, but there are many important matters to discuss. A few more than we had originally anticipated, it seems. Will you be able to answer them in the coming moments?" 

She wanted to say that she needed to leave again immediately, but simple things like speaking and moving were out of her range of abilities at the second. Pops gave a reply where she couldn't. "We should wait, Simipour. Let her rest a moment at home, give it some time. Then we can start dealing with this whole nasty business." He ended with a crackling cough, another stab of anxiety between her ribs. 

At least the short respite made it so that their partnered limp was a little more mutual than just her being carried. While the water fresh in her system would surely help, the pain she had ignored for so long took full residence in her muscles and joints. Each step put emphasis on that hurt as well as how narrow her breathing had really become. To the Braixen's rising despair, she had began to hear the constant cacophony of sniffles and coughing from the village's populace. There was enough lucidity in her yet to unintentionally concentrate on those sounds and imagine what terrible things washed through her hometown last night after Vallion had been taken away. 

By the time they had entered into Pops' house, a few more pokemon followed them in and closed the door just behind. She was quickly given a chair to rest in and the room to breath easy. Both hers and Vallion's backpacks were set aside the exit, which were probably reclaimed when she had nearly passed into unconsciousness. Carracosta worked at the speed of a worried parent to prevent that from happening again, somehow already placing a washcloth over her forehead. Most of those who had entered after them were some of the eldest of the village, pokemon who had been living here since she was just a kid. Every last one looked as though they were running on fumes. 

Another glass of water found itself in her hands, and all else went out the window as she began to tackle the alternation between taking quick swigs and the shallow breaths necessary to not drown. Though her stomach fought and screamed against the introduction of so much liquid at once, and despite the muscles involved with swallowing spreading pain all the way up to her sinuses, the action was more than necessary. And to think that she was about to do something as stupid as turning right around after delivering the kids and taking on the mountain again without putting at least some water in her. While alone, at that. She would have probably grown delirious and got lost somewhere in the valley, but perhaps not before falling over and losing locomotion entirely. That would have been pretty bad. 

"Now, if I might continue," Simipour began again once everyone had settled in. "Despite your condition, it's very important you tell us exactly what happened up on that mountain last night after you called. If you haven't noticed it yet, the whole village has suddenly been wracked with this dream illness since then, and are currently very much under the weather and lacking in decent sleep. What used to an extremely flighty ailment has become something of an epidemic, and we have reason to suspect it is something to have originated from Revelation Mountain. Do you have the strength to tell us?" 

With her system rebooting and focus returning to her scattered perceptions, the dire situation at hand became all the more intense in the foreground of her mind. The voice which rose was still not quite her own, but it was close enough to get out what she needed to say. "I.. I need to leave. I need to go! Sorry, I just don't have any time to sit around and talk when Val's life is at stake!" When she tried to rise again, Audino quickly urged her back into place. 

"Easy, easy! I don't know how far you think you can go, but judging from how you walked into town, I'd say only a few feet on your own," she said while picking back up the washcloth that fell onto the floor with the motion. Even then, her weak arm swatted at the notion as her second attempt at standing was staged. 

"Then I'll- ngh.. I'll just keep going anyway! You don't even understand," the Braixen's voice cracked ambiguously from either emotion or illness. She hadn't needed anyone to push her back down to fall again, her legs giving out entirely at the very thought of supporting even half her weight. It was fruitless to move around, that much was obvious despite her deepest of prayers. Was this ailment actually draining her of strength or something? 

Carracosta's rising in volume was more than enough to deter a third try at wobbling towards the door. "Panne, that is enough! Panicking will get you nowhere but down. Isn't that something I've told you over a million times? A figure of your renown should show some respect to themselves and have a level head! Quit embarrassing yourself in front of half the village!" Somehow his voice had cleared of both mucus and swelling for just this alone, and his authority over the room was unswerving. While desperation still brewed plentifully within the aching hollow of her torso, her tongue refused to speak up against him through sheer obedience alone. His nose raised a centimeter higher into the air. "Now, are you going to sit still and recover the strength to accomplish what you want to do, or are you going to flounder on the floor for another five minutes?" 

It was Audino who volunteered to be a softer side to his harshness, offering a hand of reassurance. "I can only imagine how important it is for you to get back out there, but you're not going to make any progress like this. There are also important things to discuss right here in the village for the time being, things we should be talking about while you're still recuperating. Just rest easy for a moment and take back control over yourself, okay?" 

Finally, from the wishes of her father and the complete reluctance of her limbs that she refused to acknowledge, Panne surrendered to their wishes and settled completely back down into the seat. They obviously weren't going to let her leave without some cooperation first, and she didn't blame them, but the quickest route to solving this problem for everyone would be to take on the source. "Alright, fine! Fine.." A difficult deep breath through tightened passages, and she had begun. "Growlithe and Ledyba had gotten the dream sickness the night before the last, but they apparently didn't really have a nightmare and instead saw the mountain. Their inhibitions about exploring it were dashed by the visions they had-- They were curious from hearing about it in class, also." Another few gulps of air were needed to continue at this frantic pace. "And it apparently coerced them to leave for it before sunlight. At around the same time, Vallion had a vivid nightmare involving his humanity and it probably contained some weird threats from the thing that he refused to tell me about. The whole thing was a trick to catch us out so that this person, or whatever it is, could steal away with him. And the longer I stay here, the more danger he's in, and the more danger we're all put into because of it!" A gasp followed, the explanation taking everything out of her lungs. 

"Sweetheart, the faster you talk doesn't mean you'll make a faster recovery. Simmer down." Carracosta held her shoulder to emphasize his point, to which she gave a shallow sigh and crossed her arms. "Though I see he did tell you about some aspects of the dream after all. We can't be so sure whether this entity intended to spread this ailment across the valley or not, but at the very least we can say that it is indeed something hostile if it took one of our own. Though after the nightmare we were all put through, I can't imagine anyone mistaking it for something you could have a pleasant conversation with." 

"Huh? What do you mean" Panne sat up more attentively, placing a hand over her temple to ward away a headache for just a moment. "What's this nightmare you all had? It was the same all throughout?" 

Simipour shook his head. "Terrible visions all throughout the night. It was the same thing for everyone that was questioned, black walls of indiscernible screaming expressions that spoke things which seemed eldritch in nature. Carracosta tried to call you, but I suppose your hands were full at the time. To complicate matters further, even looking in the direction of Revelation Mountain intensifies these symptoms and brings about a great deal of dread from out of nowhere. It's the reason we even suspected you to know in the first place, and feared equally for the safety of our children. But now that they are back and generally as safe as the rest of us, we can focus on our next course of action." 

"Wh-what? But why would it.. Agh, whatever!" This time, nobody stopped her when she stood up, probably for amazement that she could at all and doubt that it would lead anywhere. "I don't need to know why to know that it can't be good! And if it's this bad here, there's no telling what Val's going through at this very moment. I need to get back there right now, more than ever!" 

Awkward coughs and grim faces lined the room. Pops frowned as he knelt down to be eye-level with her. "Yes, we know. You've gotten that point across plenty enough by now. But I'm worried about what you're trying to go up against while you’re still so taxed. Perhaps you really can persevere all the way back there, but as impressive as that would be, this presence has already proven to be something you two couldn't handle on your own. I'd feel a little better if you'd at least wait here for a while and get some more food and liquid into your system. And I'm sure Vallion would feel the same if he were here. He's survived worse for longer, and we all can handle being ill for just a bit longer as well." 

If her nose weren't so full, she'd have huffed impatiently in addition to her slumping in defeat. That does sound exactly like something the Servine would say, especially now with his hero complex in full swing. And her father-- she absolutely despised making people anxious about her if she could help it. Not that such a thing even mattered right now. Even so, that emotional itch didn't go away. The whole village would probably become obsessed if they saw her take off again so soon after the dramatic arrival she made. "Every second I stay here is one he's in more danger, and I'm not satisfied with sitting here and letting that happen, but... I suppose you're right." 

"He IS right," Watchog spoke up from the back. "Every second there's a chance I could be in danger of a heart attack, and you don't see tempting fate every turn for the thrill of it. Going back out there without the energy to do anything about it is just the same as sitting around and doing nothing at all. Geez, if I somehow managed to collapse in the same way you did, I'd just stay in bed for the next two days and ignore the whole world for as long as possible. Not even an earthquake could get me out from under those covers." 

And so it was settled that Panne was forced to hesitate before leaving. Of course, she probably only had to meet her father's standards before heading out, and that was exactly what she planned to do. For so long as this green cloth was around her neck, she could never forget the absent person who was meant to stand beside her. The Braixen took her gelatin legs and stomped over to the larder, hastily beginning to scan its contents for foods easy enough to shove down her scratchy throat and forget about. And as she discovered granola fashioned into bars in the way back of the shelf, the far background finally held whispers inquiring about the reappearance of her legendary scarf. Nuzleaf was the one who seemed to take up the answer, though the condition of her sinuses by far impeded her ability to listen in, and she hardly cared at the moment to explain it herself. It would have taken her no time at all to devour half the larder's supply of dry foods had Pops not called out for her to slow down. 

As their reserves of granola were steadily depleted, she sought in the lull to better understand the situation she had been thrust into and the upcoming fight at hand. Recalling the grim way her and Vallion were plunged into a deep sleep told that things were much worse than the audacity in her blood gave the impression of. Simple combat would probably be only a small part of the whole fight, and there were no emera braces for the next sixty miles since dungeoneering supplies were desperately low around here nowadays. There were few reasons to actually go out into the deep wilderness anymore. The only extra piece of equipment she had on-hand was a guiding wand propped up against the wall of her room just in case an emergency like this were to arise. It would have found use last night, but the wand is meant to track places, not people. Having dealt with every bar of nuts she could find, Panne scurried off to fetch that same artifact now that it was fresh in her memory. 

With the adjacent room came a quiet unbeknownst to the discussions of the town's oldest. The soothing light that filtered in through the window and gave color to the walls made pretend that nothing was wrong at all. It reminded her that, if she felt this poorly on any other day, bed would truly be the only place she dared to travel to. She swiped up the wand and contemplated how its length would fit with the basic backpacks they were using. In the end, it would simply be thrust into the thickness of her ragged tail, which was already too much of a mess to be bothered with. After all, it wasn't as if anyone she'd be traveling with would mind her appearance, not with the distraction of their own illness at hand. Isn't that right, Meowstic? 

'Aw man. If you knew I was listening in the whole time, why didn't you just say so?' the voice echoed in her ears where the mucus and congestion had deafened. While it was incredibly strange to feel those organs gain the impression of functioning correctly when everything else sounded like underwater, the message came through cleanly. 

"Cuz why would I? Surely all of this was too interesting for you to keep your nose out of. And besides, I felt you butting in a little while ago while I was still drinking the second water, but wasn't really certain before this quiet," her whispers would seem like voiced introspection to anyone who caught a glimpse, they wouldn't know of the distant presence listening in. "Could you gather up the right kind of supplies and meet back up as soon as possible? I'm going to need a little help, and I don't really have the kind of time to ask around right now. When I get out, I need to GO." 

Panne couldn't help but visualize a sigh. 'I guess my reputation precedes me. Yeah, I can probably muster enough cough medicine to head out with you and not die. Meet me at town square once the geezers finally let you loose.' With that, the slight tingling on the fringes of her mind faded out of existence, and the difference was so minimal that it felt as though nothing had really changed. She gathered her thoughts while wandering back into the lively entrance (or would be lively, if there was anyone there that wasn't fighting off a fit of coughing or mustering a whisper at best). Strolling past the table allowed her to snatch up an oran berry from a bowl left out. It tasted of nothing, for that sense had been long since abandoned by her afflicted immune system. 

The first person to actually notice her silent return was Simipour, who spoke as she popped a few more reluctant berries into her mouth. "Ah, Panne. Not to prod too much, but did you happen to get a good grasp of exactly WHAT was up there? It would help us greatly if we better understood the nature of these attacks." She shook her head in response and swallowed. 

"No, we never even got to see it. The symptoms started to sprout up as soon as we got done setting up camp. They got worse as time went on, whether by approach of the source or just from it willing so. It knocked us out before even having to get close. It was like our bodies were just.. when you're sick, you feel weak naturally, but this was something much worse. When I woke up, Val was gone." 

Farfetch'd was deep in thought up until then, seemingly trying to piece together all of the clues they had gathered by himself. "I'm not one to know too much about the mythical creatures of the world, but are you absolutely certain what we're up against isn't Darkrai themselves? While it's not an uncommon ability to be able to force other pokemon asleep, I can't quite explain everything else that's been happening. It's just on too large a scale to be anything less." 

For once, she shrugged. "It could be, for all we know. Last we heard of them was on another continent entirely, but things are starting to look more and more suspicious. Though I'm not so sure this weird hay fever reaction has ever been a part of their range of powers. And If I haven't been spacing out on all the stories Jirachi told me, then it wouldn't be the first time Darkrai has meddled with human affairs, so it's definitely a possibility still." 

Using this information, the room took the opportunity to begin mulling even harder over the matters at hand, all the while Panne continued to nibble on as many berries as she could just to be given the chance to leave at all. It's kind of funny how everyone here was so deeply speculative when her own plan was to walk up to the perpetrator themselves and deal with every grievance personally, demanding Vallion back and this illness to cease. If it refused, she could simply invoke her powers as a rescue team under the Exploration Society and deal with them in a much less sophisticated way. Reasoning and rational thought are probably not in the cards for this upcoming encounter, after all. These kinds of things usually never ended so peacefully. 

Eh. Speaking of which, there's likely something or another in the protocols that dictates she should contact the Society at this point. With how badly the peace has been disturbed in this region, perhaps there were even higher authorities to call, especially so if this thing was Darkrai after all. But calling for help was useless, everyone would arrive too slowly with the exception of Archeops. It could be a mere few hours from now until something awful happened. She'll absolutely have to call them after all this was over, anyways. Why waste time doing it now when she could be using her time much more intelligently? And not... sitting here. 

Though her stomach fought a hard battle the whole way, and the rest of her hadn't exactly been agreeing with general existence, she had finally managed to devour what could loosely be construed as a meal. Not that anyone had noticed, for she was a mere observer to this scene of ideas and planning to ensure the village didn't start a panic in the meantime. It was all they could do, their bodies were very well not quite what they used to be. Wisdom was what they had most to offer in this time of emergency, if one could call a runny nose and sleepiness night an emergency. She wasn't meant to be a part of this. 

"Well?" the Braixen spoke up, having swallowed the last of her food and most her exhaustion. "I've eaten plenty enough, I've packed twice the water as last time-- aren't I allowed to leave yet? It's killing me more to be waiting here than it would be on the road back to the mountain. I've been through worse, you know." 

The bag was already slung over her shoulders, which she reckoned to be only five thirds heavier than it should have been due to her weakened and worn muscles. Everything was already in place. If they didn't understand that there wasn't a moment to lose now, they probably never would. She put on as brave a face as she could towards Pops, who gave only a resigned sigh in return. "I suppose you are right. But with seeing how you stumbled into town, I don't want you to go at it alone. You've already felt firsthand what this thing can do. Collapse like that anywhere far from town, and you can hardly rely on that gadget to save you anymore." 

"Don't worry about that, I wasn't planning to." The crowd parted so that she might be able to reach the door. While Panne would otherwise have been ecstatic to head out, it certainly didn't feel like a blessing to anything attached to a nerve. Still, there was far too much at stake to hear bodily reluctance at the moment. "I'll be sure to come back with Val just the same as I came with the kids. Make some soup for us if you can, alright? We're probably going to feel half-dead by the time we're done with this." 

After a few wishes of good fortune and several more pleas of success, she pressed into the outside and quickly shut the door behind her. The dissent from her limbs was incredible after having tasted restfulness for some time, but that feeling was routine by now. What didn't give the impression of normality was the very air outside after her first breath, a gloomy heaviness she wouldn't really have noticed without being alert for such a thing. The sky had almost entirely been covered with grey clouds now, leaving no traces of the blue summer sky and no inkling as to when this front had moved in. Maybe she hadn't noticed it approaching during her struggle home? Whether the smell of rain lingered in the atmosphere or not was impossible to tell, though she was certain that the sweet breeze from yesterday had been all but smothered beneath tasteless cold. This was no ordinary bad day. 

The village center was more or less deserted at first glance, with the exception of Meowstic half-asleep while standing up and a Kecleon brooding over a box of tissues. As Panne started towards the psychic type, an urging in her throat gave her away before the distance could be closed. Apparently her damaged lungs were decently recognizable by now. 

"Ah, finally. I'm tired of being sick." Meowstic broke free of her trance and turned to the Braixen, immediately shifting about inside a side pocket on her repurposed bookbag. From within came an emera brace seemingly of a basic variety. "I had one lying around from a few months ago, thought it could get some real use from someone who actually knows the specifics. I've never really been too much an adventuring type, anyways. The new scarf looks good on you." 

A little tight and ill-fitted, but certainly more practical than going bare. It'd be foolish to let every emera they pass by go to waste. "Oh, thanks. For both." She'd like to have sounded a little more grateful than she did, but both their voices were particularly destroyed, so the notion probably went across by mutual suffering alone. Panned looked out over the eerie surrounding emptiness and cleared her throat. "So are we going to head out soon, or is there something else we have to do beforehand. We don't really have the choice to turn around halfway through if we're missing something." 

Across from the western side came a shouting. "Hey, Panne! You're finally about again!" Sawsbuck, in all her new verdant leaves and summer coat, came galloping forth from beyond a corner. Behind her, though considerably slower, came the slithering of a dragon type who looked more appropriately under the weather. Sliggoo slowed even further down to let loose a rattling sneeze that was supposedly the reason he had fallen so far behind. Both pokemon had bags and packs of varying sizes strapped to their backs, as if they had to make do with stuffing their supplies in many of the largest containers they had available. And still, they carried far more than was needed for a journey as small as the one they were about to embark on. 

"S-seriously, Sawsbuck! I'm not good with colds, you know that!" Sliggoo sputtered as the two managed to catch up. It was surprising to see them here at all, considering how everyone town had enough weight on their shoulders as it was. Meowstic must have rounded them up before coming here and offered a spot in their ride to misery. 

"You guys!" the Braixen exclaimed, very nearly breaking through the craggy barrier of her throat and sounding like herself. It was definitely more painful than she would have hoped. "Would you really actually come with us, even feeling as bad as you do? I mean, it's just an assuredly dangerous task to begin with, let alone dealing while dealing with how disgusting this air feels. Are you sure you're up for it?" 

The Sawsbuck raised her head into the air with a sniffle. "Well of course! What else are we going to do besides nurse this cold that probably isn't going to go away anytime soon? There are some sick days that are too vital to take, and obviously this is one if Vallion really did get captured by something. We're all going to get him back!... Oh my god, is that your old scarf?" 

"No and yes, whatever. It's a long story that nobody has the time or constitution for. Val will tell you personally about it when we bring him back from wherever he is. Don't worry about it for now." 

Regardless, a nod from the dragon type seconded the notion. While it built upon her confidence and hope considerably to have her friends accompany her, the larger party would surely be more stressful to look after. She was the veteran explorer here, it was her responsibility to ensure everyone made it through this undertaking safe and sound. And with the things she already knew this entity could do, along with the even more vast amount of things she did not know about its strengths, they had a truly daunting battle on their hands. What was stopping it from simply casting its spell and simply plunging all of them into a deep nightmare a second time? There had to be something that could protect them from such a fate. It was on the tip of her tongue, urged on by her mind in that every moment she could not remember was another Vallion could have been saved with. 

Panne was spoken to, but she hadn't really heard what was said. A hatching idea spoke much louder in the chambers of her ears than anything her friends had said. "Heal seeds!" she exclaimed and turned back to the group from having been staring spaced out at dirt this whole time. "We need some of those, actually a lot of those. They won't exactly cure this funk that's fallen over us, but if Darkrai really is the thing up on that mountain, then our only hope is copious amounts of caffeine in our bloodstreams. Do any of your bags happen to be carrying any of them just by chance?" Three heads shook with according negative murmurs. "Well do you have some at home? This is kind of the most important part." 

Sawsbuck stood a little taller in the moment. "I still do, I think. Sometimes I need to stay up into the night to get more work done, so I just pop one and lose a lot more sleep than I would need to." 

"Go get them. And, uh.. maybe some money to buy more from Kecleon if what you have isn't enough. I get a feeling we're going to need a lot more to get through this awake." 

A nod between, and she had took off galloping again to fetch what would probably be the most vital tool to the entire rescue. Unfortunately, that entailed more waiting. The Braixen cleared the mucus that thickened her throat and idly stretched the pain out of her rebellious tendons. There was only going to be more strain on them as time went on, and casting her abilities was surely going to become much more dangerous and labored than last night. God forbid one of her fire techniques gives out during a perilous battle and spelled everyone's demise because of it. Including Vallion's, who seemed more than certain his soul was going to be tampered with in the coming few hours. She desperately hoped that this nastiness which settled into the valley wasn't a product of whatever process that was, or else they were already too late. 

"Uh, Panne?" her pondering was brought to an end by Sliggoo's meek voice, made even quieter. "You... you think Darkrai really is here in the valley? 'Cuz, um, I'm not terribly good at fighting or anything like that. If we end up having to be in any serious combat, I'm probably not going to be much help at all." 

Whether it was comforting or not, Panne gave a shrug. "That the thing, we don't know anything specific about what's up there with Vallion. Just that it's nasty, it gives nightmares, and it put us to sleep. There just aren't many more choices available for what it could be when the effect is this widespread. Plenty of pokemon can do all of those things, but if we can climb to the top of Revelation Mountain and understand that everything we can possibly see is under their influence, it's probably not anything so mundane as an outlaw." She shook her head, but only towards herself. It didn't matter to her at all what it was. It insisted on hurting people, it stole Vallion literally from inside her arms, and the silent threats it made were unexcusable. For all the knowledge it possessed, it should have known better than to mess with her. "You know, you don't have to come if you're not up to it. I was only expecting Meowstic to be here when I was released." 

And yet, a braver face appeared where indecision had once been. "Of course I'm going. I was just wondering if my coming along would be more a burden then it was worth. I shouldn't be there if my pace would only slow everyone down, especially in a situation as dire as this. As much as I'd like to help save Vallion, it's common sense if I got left behind to take care of the village instead." 

"Well you're not much more of a burden than this waiting, and I'm sure my own legs are going to start complaining real quick once we leave town. Don't worry about it too much," she said and looked up through teary eyes at the darkening clouds. Maybe they were made of malignant gasses and not water vapor, and that was what spread this feeling all over? It was a stretch, but so was everything else they've been speculating on and doing this whole time. Soon enough, there would finally be answers. 

Time continued to ebb away as a disturbing amount of silence fell over the center of town, borne from the uncomfortability of speaking at all. It felt like an eternity had passed by the time Sawsbuck came running back into view. Her heavy breathing whistled as she nodded and wheezed that her mission was a success. "Six seeds," she managed through the coughing. "That's what.. what I was able to find. Probably plenty. No money, though." A more solid fit of hacking ended the attempt at speaking with absolute authority over her lungs. She had probably been holding that in for a while now. 

"That's fine. We don't have time to bargain, anyway. We should have technically left minutes ago, but we'll be fine." On relenting legs and bruised heart, the Braixen clapped away everyone's weariness and beckoned herself to be the leader before carrying on towards the village exit. None had the strength or mind to argue, even if they did hold an ounce of rejection within themselves for whatever reason. It would take a lot more to warrant setting off their itchy throats and spiraling back down into misery. This didn't at all feel like a day to play hero, but here they were, taking off from the town to travel that same boring road and scour a mountainside for the second day in a row. 

Their march really did sound more like a quarantined caravan than the valiant task at hand would lead to believe. Runny noses and involuntary hacking abound, the air was filled with squalid noises like a plague had descended upon them. Not to mention Meowstic's aversion to the illness was paired with the onward press and often threatened gagging from her throat. The poor girl was going to rip out her neck before this was done, or at least find some apathetic rhythm like she did herself on the way down. That might be something they all would require to get through this part of the journey. Hopefully it won't cripple them by the time adrenaline and logic become relevant once more, nearly passing out twice in a day probably isn't something you can recover from in time for a full-scale battle. 

"Guys, wait up!" From behind came shouts of a deep yet familiar cadence, if a little graveled. The party turned to see Pangoro sprinting down the path from town in an attempt to catch up, choking on his lungs despite them all stopping to look. "Wuh- wait! You forgot about me!" 

"Yes, because you were too slow. We needed to start moving as soon as possible, and you had more than adequate amount of time to pack for supplies," Sawsbuck said as the pokemon lumbered towards them still, seemingly a complete sickly mess compared to how some of the others were dealing with this massive bodily reaction. And she thought Meowstic was the one with an underpowered immune system. 

The Braixen motioned for them to start moving again as Pangoro finally managed to reach them. He bent over to catch a breath, only to find that he was starting to fall behind once more and had to double his pace again. "S-Sorry!" he began. "I had to, ugh.. look for something beneath a few lays of boxes. I wasn't going to leave on some.. dangerous adventure without it." With a forced half-grin tinged by a stray strand of saliva from the effort, he unveiled what was so important that he was very nearly left behind. 

"My god, you still have that thing?" Sawsbuck, the least sick of them all, exclaimed as he swung around a slingshot by the band. It was surely the same one as before, which he used with rocks and wadded paper as ammunition. "I don't think this great shadowy evil that incapacitated Vallion and Panne at the same time is going to be very deterred by a few pebbles, Pangoro. And you almost missed us entirely because of that thing." 

Still short of breath, he raised a finger and reached around to his back, pulling forth a bag with clinking contents. "Well sure it won't mind a rock much, but there's no use in just bullying the thing when I have an entire bag of my secret weapons. Smack it in the face with enough of these blast seeds and let's see it pull of a smug grin after that." 

"That works, I suppose," Panne's monotonous crackling of a voice portrayed little of the elation she felt to have another friend come along, and even less of the intensity it added to the task of leading them all. "A blast seed would do more damage if you bit into it with your target point-blank, but it still has an effect if exploding from an impact. The concussive blast is the thing that opens your mouth and lets ignition take place farther from your body. Most people don't actually know that, probably because it would normally be an absolutely stupid idea with literally anything else that explodes. They're not phosphorous bombs or anything, though, but they're definitely better ammo than rocks." 

Meowstic, in all her silent misery, finally found the time to speak. "Did you seriously evolve thick muscles and dense bones to just dig up your slingshot and plink away from afar while we do all the real work? Don't be such a baby." 

"Hey! What if I need to hit something in the air, or a pokemon's too dangerous to take on head-first? Would you rather I run in and display my manliness while having my intestines ripped out?" 

"That's when you let Panne handle it," Sliggoo said with a vote of confidence in the legendary explorer among them. He wasn't wrong, and that's what scared her. They were depending on her to do crazy fireworks and launch distracting flames should a major battle actually break out. With the way she was feeling right now, she wasn't sure of herself in even shooting a simple ball more than twenty feet without stopping to catch her breath. So much for the mighty one who saved the world. 

In truth, she wasn't even certain that the daunting slopes leading up to the mountain were an obstacle she could overcome without Vallion's supportive vines around her waist. She might sooner fall over and die than perform some physical miracle, but there was little time to brood over it. The turn leading towards Revelation Mountain was coming up soon, and there were too many people counting on her to question herself. This dirt path was one she'd probably grow to hate before long.


	5. Golden Lights

Part 1

The march had not yet become too much for her to bear, but Panne finally conceded to her friends' wishes and sat down into the cold dirt with the rest of them. The mistake was immediately apparent as her legs, which had been numb and cooperative before, began to twitch restlessly and scream with acidity. Even after relinquishing her weight to the ground, it felt as though the pressure remained. The Braixen hissed through her teeth before fiddling with her bag for the canteen zipped away within. Things weren't quite as bad as when she arrived in the village earlier, but it still wasn't in the least bit pleasant to endure. Needing more oxygen than the throat was wide enough to swallow was something that slowed them all down considerably. What kind of spiritual disturbance even inflicted symptoms of the flu, anyway? 

"Son of a.." Pangoro grunted trying to lay backwards over a fallen log, probably from how his back muscles tensed from the walk. With the short distance they actually traveled, it was strange to hear so much heavy panting fill the forest scene just by itself, hers especially. Raising the canteen to her mouth and tilting up stirred much of the loose mucus which had barely settled in her nose. A disgusting sound came in the process of drinking down, yet nobody had the energy unallotted to care about such mannerisms anymore. By the time she gasped to make up for the air she held, there was hardly more than a swig left in the container. Such was the case with all of them. Their bodies were drying out faster than they could shamble over hills and through thickets. 

But there were only so many of those hills and thickets before Revelation Mountain had to come into view. A little dehydration couldn't possibly stop her now if it hadn’t already. Although, both the more logical and superstitious parts of her brain were keenly adverse to marching on towards the mountain in such an adamant way, likely for the same reason that even staring in its general direction made people all the way in the village uneasy and sick. She could conclude with certainty that being so close to this maliciousness covered the whole party in a blanket of paranoia. Each inch closer to the mountain made the most natural of noises and formations intensely suspicious for no apparent reason. It wasn't just her, either. Everyone had become prone to looking over their shoulders and reacting to sounds that just weren't there. And she knew well that they was genuinely nothing there. It was always someone different who glanced warily at something nobody else thought was out of the ordinary, hearing things only they could hear and seeing faces in the smoothest of trunks. 

At this very moment, it still felt like they were on a stage being observed by a vile audience. Whether they were truly being watched wasn't something that could be answered, not with all the questions that were already waiting to find truth-- one of which being the fact that there weren't even any native pokemon to catch a twitchy glimpses of in the first place. There was nothing out here at all, as those who were feral yet retained the slightest bit of common sense fled far away from the looming presence that infested the very air she wheezed. Territory or not, something was innately wrong here and not worth defending. It seemed that they were truly the only ones dumb enough to move towards the source rather than away. Panne grabbed onto the knot of the scarf around her neck and fought off the twinge of grief it caused. 

"We have to keep moving," she rasped before clearing her throat and stifling the resulting cough. 

Meowstic, who had taken up telepathy as her preferred method of communication on account of its convenience, mumbled in the inners of the Braixen's ears. 'Yeah, yeah. Everything's dire and all that, I know the drill. Only my lungs were going to explode if we kept moving like that. You've gotta cut me some slack for at least a moment's rest, we're not all made of the same stuff as you.' 

"There's not much daylight left," Panne continued, glancing up through the canopy at a sky of fragmented clouds and occasional sunspots. "If it's creepy now, do we really want to be out here after dark? Not just that, but it's going to be twice as difficult to look for Val if I've got to provide us all the light. There's probably not going to be much of a moon tonight, just calling on intuition." 

The next person who had gathered enough air to comfortably complain was Pangoro. "Yeah, but I've already messed up my ankle just getting here. It might have gotten worse if we didn't stop, and if that happened, how the hell am I supposed to get up an entire mountain with one and a half ankles? It'd be a lot slower than this wait, I tell you." 

An exasperated groan threatened to escape at the base of her tongue as she capped the lightened canteen and shove it from whence it came. She wanted to be angry with them, to be frustrated that they were forced to wait in the middle of the path while precious minutes burned away. It certainly wasn't their lives in danger, was it? A teensy little walk with a runny nose wasn't going to kill them the same as Vallion being captured by this mad.. thing. Have their souls been threatened in the last few weeks? The answer was definitely a no, and yet they cared more for themselves than a Servine that saved their whole planet? Just once, it surely wouldn't be so hard to make a little sacrifice to give thanks for their continued existence. But it was like they didn't even care if he died! 

"Uh, Panne?" Sawsbuck's concerned tone drew a silent gasp from her, the seething irritability instantly melting away. "You're, uh.. whispering pretty violently to yourself over there. Is everything alright?" 

"Was I... wait, what?" It hadn't occurred that her lips had been moving at all until now, and she didn't recall the strain of using her voice. Now that she was thinking on the past, it was unclear what she was even angry about in the first place. All that was left of it was just a residual fury caught on the tip of her mind. Whatever pushed its way past her mouth was now lost to the moment, but it left a vile taste regardless. Her gaze turned towards the spaces in between leaf and bark, revisited by the same feeling that something otherworldly stalked them in the corners of their eyes. It was fully possible that the words which spilled from her mouth were not even her own. At this rate, it wasn't too far flung a theory that they were being loomed over. She'd probably put money on it with her luck. 

Sliggoo tilted his head. "You're our leader here, you don't have time to start grumbling and pouting. Everyone's expecting those eight years of experience to show above all else." There was something off about the way he said it, something mocking-- but it wasn't wrong. It frightened her that something had already asserted itself over her so subtly, but she didn't exactly have the choice to pack up and go home. The solution would simply be to become more observant and continue moving forward. 

And moving forward was something she very much intended to do, if they hadn't been forced to sit around and watch the clouds smother what daring beams of sun did manage to touch the forest floor. It was kinda hard to enjoy the quiet woodland setting when every moment that passed was one closer to the uncertain and dangerous future. Sure, each second alive is as precious as the last, but the stress of urgency took a different light to that idea and drained away all the colors in the process. Every necessary pause became sin, and a turn to the wrong direction was a grave folly. Any mistake could possibly be the one that spelled someone else's demise. After she and Vallion got married, maybe she'd take a little longer off than she first thought to really enjoy the sun setting again. 

It came time to pick up the pieces of their liveliness and dust off soil from their backs. Getting up was the hardest part, as when momentum finally started to carry her forward she had no choice but to put the next foot down. Judging from her prior experience with this passage in the last few days, and accounting on how these lower parts of the mystery dungeon changed infrequently, they wouldn't have to trudge on much longer before meeting the base of Revelation Mountain. And if they were out of breath just cutting through its surrounding forested hills, no doubt it was going to beat her to a pulp worse than ever. But that was fine. All she needed was to keep her mind on Val and make sure putting one paw in front of the other didn't bring her down a cliff or into a tree. 

That proximity was well-denoted by the twitches of motion in the corners of her eye, in the treetops and across the ground. There were certainly not any Unown around here, let alone small pokemon that could catch an eye for less than a millisecond like this. Hell, she hadn't even seen any indicators to make known that this place was even a dungeon to begin with. Not a wayward twig infused with chaos, crystallized orb of magic, not even the glittering dust of an emera observed and left to shatter. It hardly felt like a dungeon to begin with anymore. Even the most spiritually active dungeons had reasons for the chills that rolled down her spine at the turn of a corner. This place just felt intentionally empty, and they hadn't touched upon their destination yet, which was supposedly the source of all things strange that have been flooding into the valley. 

Just as speculated, the angles of slopes and ledges starting to become more potent as all the earth came to a slant. Peering just beyond the trees above would reveal that a third of the sky was obstructed by an almighty stone structure jutting from the world. The party begrudgingly climbed the first of many steep walls by jutting root and stem, though it was only a few feet into the air that they had to scale. She was more so worried about how the search would begin rather than obsessing over the effort. It took a great deal of the night to find the two kids up here, and they hadn't strayed far from this corner of the mountain then, either. To find a person who might not even be able to respond to their calls was going to be twice the chore, especially on top of everything else that was wrong. 

This surely wasn't the same series of vertical drops she climbed down from this morning, both literally and judging from how the air tasted now. Even if she did eventually recognize a dirt wall to follow as the final roundabout pathway from the valley, something made the mountainside feel closer to a forsaken deadlands than how it was meant to be. The best way to describe it was a place where people came to die. 

"Okay," Sawsbuck began with a sigh once she saw that their field of view opened up, at least as much as it could with a great wall of earth on one side. "Now that we're up here, you've got to point us in the right direction, Panne. Are we splitting up to look for him, or is there going to be some base camp, or what?" 

The Braixen shook her head. "What, split up here? While we're all half-dead of dehydration and another quarter of dead from our sinuses? No thanks." She reached around her waist and began to tug at the branch stuck in her tail, something most might have thought was just a remnant from the chaotic travel back this morning. A stifled yelp and a few stubborn hairs later, the wand finally came free. "I was saving for a rainy day in the corner of my room. Probably should have used it earlier to help find the kids, but then we wouldn't have it to use now, would we?... Eh. I'm an idiot and forgot about it until now." 

'It's a start, I guess. Hopefully we won't have to go too far up,' Meowstic's voice materialized in her head, and presumably also in everyone else's around. For just a moment, Panne pondered if it were a dangerous act for the psychic type to project themselves in such a way when there was something psychologically hostile about. Oh well, It was too late to worry about it now. 

She raised the wand over her head and felt a slight tremble in her arm from the simple act. Her mind focused, attempting to manipulate where the magic would guide them by envisioning as hard as she could the missing Servine. With the demanding downward swing came an arc of light from its tip, and in its place was a gentle blue mist that began to gravitate westward against the wind. It seemed almost immediately that they would be skirting around the base of the mountain instead of tackling it head-on. While it was relieving to not have to take on its slopes quite yet, why was Revelation Mountain so plainly relevant if they were just going to avoid it entirely? 

They started to move again before she could come up with any answers, as was typical of the last few days. Her brain was simply too sluggish to process much with a head already inflamed and ill. She was actively heading in a direction, there was reason to believe that it was progress, and that mattered more right now than why. There was no need to understand and take for granted something that would bring her just inches closer to reaching Vallion and putting an end to this whole nightmare sickness. 

Whatever strange detour they were meant to take in this direction was one she had never traveled before, or at least didn't quite remember with all the other detours she's mapped out over the days. The landscape started to thin out in comparison to the wild thickness they had to brave to get here. Trees and other little pockets of foliage were more comfortably spaced out around grassy fields. The orange grey cliffs of clay and volcanic sediment probably had something to do with it, perhaps limiting the places deeper in the ground where the most vital roots are allowed to roam. A few tiny streams trickled which they had to take great care stepping through, for fear of the slippery mud beneath their feet where pebbles weren't. It'd definitely be a gorgeous hike if they weren't marching with such purpose and fatigue. When there wasn't some supernatural weight on her shoulders, she might have to come down here with Val one of these non-deadly weekends. 

After a great enough distance was passed that the land began to flatten again, Panne gave another swing of the guiding wand with the Servine's image fresh in her mind, not that it was a difficult thing to force to the surface. While she was somewhat unsure whether it understood the command or not, the wand's magic did continue directing them to scrape by the rising earth. A few possibilities dashed through her head as to why they were pulled in such a direction, but she mainly got caught up on the chance that it was picking up on exhaustion instead of the longing emotion she tried to impose. Or maybe it was the mountain itself that influenced the magic to point away from their true destination? Maybe it was just broken, and none of it mattered at all. She couldn't explain the first thing that was going on here anyway, might as well stop while she was ahead. It's not like anyone was going to start complaining that they didn't have to climb up ninety-degree angles while choking on their own bodily fluids constantly. 

On a distracting note, Panne had finally conceded to her thirst and stopped the party beside a clear-looking stream originating from higher altitudes. One to refill their barren canteens, but also because the liquid tasted only slightly of clay and felt far too refreshingly cold against the abused flesh of their throats. The respite was brief enough that her legs didn't at all appreciate its teasing, but the act of standing back up was too costly in time and strength. Just as soon did they wipe their faces and start again towards the place where land curved towards the clouded sky. Accompanying the quickened pace was a burst of frantic energy in her chest like the erosion of a dam. She wanted to force her weary legs to run, to scream Vallion's name to the sky and upturn every rock she saw just for the chance of finding a trail. Externally she reacted little, but the random panic sped her heartbeat right along and shortened the capacity of her breaths. She told herself that it was just a slip of mind that brought the desperate emotions to surface. 

To make matters worse, the environment was soon to start working against them with how dark the clouds were getting as the sun set above their somber layers. And those weren't the only clouds that threatened success, as over a ridge and just barely within sight was a front of fog that so maliciously sought to impede them during these precious moments. She stifled her profanity to be internal on the off-chance that it wasn't going to come their way after all. It was an optimistic thought, one that most certainly wouldn't be the case in the next few minutes with the way things have been going. There's a good chance it wasn't even a natural occurrence of weather at all, why would it possibly dissipate now when inconvenience was about to peak? 

"Oh no, look around the rock up there," Sliggoo announced the horror she had already been brooding on to the rest of the party. Though it hadn't made much of a negative splash, she could listen closely and differentiate the sighs from heavy breathing. Not only was it an annoying obstacle to throw them off, but she couldn't think of many more ways to make this mountainside any creepier besides nightfall and a thick fog of unknown intent. It was the onset of summer in the sinking afternoon, why else would this huge blanket of mist suddenly roll in if not for malignant reasoning? Whatever spoke over her shoulder when they stopped to rest on the trail had also yet to make a reappearance. Unless it was simple hysteria that came over her, or the presence was busy slowly torturing somebody else, then it was otherwise bound to strike when she least expected it. Unfortunately for whatever force it was, there was no better time to be alert than now. 

At first it was only foreboding that washed over them as the clouds inevitably approached, but as soon as they were forced to plunge into the murky grey, the atmosphere seemed to turned outright hostile and dragged a violent convulsion down her back. The others felt it, too, closing the distance between one another for fear of losing track of the party altogether and wandering off. Protection in numbers was the only thing that felt somewhat comforting about this sea of ambiguosity. Steadily their field of vision began to plummet as the water vapor thickened. Forty feet, thirty five, thirty-- at this rate, they might as well walk around blindfolded and start sniffing at the ground as their primary sense. Another downward swing of the guiding wand only urged them to press deeper into the mist, not that she expected anything different. Only now there was little hope to discern what direction that actually was anymore. 

'Guys, there's something wrong up here,' Meowstic's telepathy projected a great deal of her nervousness, even with the control she had over that kind of thing. 

Pangoro, who could likely barely hear the feline's messages at all, was the first to reply from how alert he had become. "Oh wow, what was your first clue? Maybe it was that there's something stalking around here that snatched Vallion up like it was nothing, or that this little spot of nowhere is making everyone in the valley feel like they snorted a flower? Forget wrong, we're probably going to die stumbling around in the dark." 

"Great vote of confidence, there. Really livens up the situation," Sliggoo added. 

Silent, Panne called upon their only hope at effectively traversing this foul weather and gave the wand a wide arc to lead them. They could have their incessant bickering all they like, she was the glue that bound this group together in the first place. It wasn't their lovers who had been stolen away, why should they care? She'd have gone out here alone if it hadn't been for the wishes of her father. It really didn't matter who came along and how their temperaments were going to get in the way. She'd sooner build a ship with her bare hands and scour the globe she invented before letting any petty argument weigh down the sheer importance of the task at hand. Show them all what it meant to be written into textbooks all over the world. 

Sawsbuck's voice cut through the depressed ambience, a whisper beneath the squabble. "Don't mind them, they're just under more stress than they know how to deal with right now. We're all right here, and you're not alone." Then why did it feel like she was the only one taking this seriously? Vallion was going to die of starvation at this rate, and the village may as well keel over from the allergic reaction as well. The Braixen bit back a sigh and stared intently into the milky blur that surrounded them. Things probably weren't supposed to feel this awful, much less so aggravating that she'd want to storm off and get lost in the hills by herself. No doubt the fog itself was doing this to their morale, if not through its nature then by supernatural means. What a joy. 

And it would get harder still to see as the implied sun settled just beyond the eastern range and stopped feeding light into the overcast above. Disgruntled or not, none of them had the time to indulge on those negative emotions when the vapor sooner felt like it was going to start strangling them than dissipate. Most differences were easily settled for those trapped in a creepy wilderness together. That was something she had learned over the years to be an undeniable truth. Her eyes scanned the ground not for clues, but instead to find wooden fuel to light their way before it became impossible to see at all. What she had quickly found instead was that this forest greatly lacked the generosity to even submit a single limb for their efforts. The ground was disconcertingly clean of branches, and the only reliable source of a flame was the very stick in her hands that made it possible to get here. 

"Oh, dammit... Did anyone here actually remember to bring a lantern? 'Cuz I didn't," Pangoro's annoyance accordingly melted away as he glanced over his shoulder, surely at some echoing noise that only he could hear. 

Everyone was holding their breaths like something was bound to jump out at them at the turn of any second. How could they be so sure the crunching footsteps over volcanic gravel was always their own when it was impossible to see more than fifteen feet away? It actually made it worse that they hadn't seen a single stirring creature the entire time they left the village. There was nothing here to disprove the sounds they heard, a once harsh wilderness thriving with life was rendered completely silent of anything logical. Most of them remembered what it was like to have wandered the Voidlands, and even that was less desolate and hopeless then the impression this place left on their minds. Clearly they weren't welcome in these parts anymore. 

When it came time to call upon the counsel of the wand once more to stay on track, a glittering fizzle was all it managed to summon before the swirling mists stole it away. Again she tried, getting even less of a response and having absolutely no idea of the correct direction to continue. An icy hand gripped at her insides, but the rest of her burned with rage that wasn't hers as she cried out and threw the now mundane twig towards the earth. It gave a single bounce on its end before falling to rest within a patch of grass several feet from them. Groaning, Panne traveled that short distance and swiped up what was effectively going to be their vision for a few minutes. It was no more potent than a candle as she snapped her fingers over the tip and blew a feeding breath in its direction. 

"That's not a very good lantern," Pangoro spoke up, crossing his arms. 

"I don't see you giving us any light. In fact, I don't see you giving us anything at all," she snapped back and twisted around. "Why don't you just take that slingshot and explode your way to where Vallion's caught, hm? You seem to think that these kinds of missions are fun and games and camping, but do you know how many people died because of things like this? People I knew personally, gone. Wiped from history, buried in the ground, broken into pieces because of the same stupid mistakes and not taking things seriously. Do you understand how much the person we're looking for means to me?" 

Sawsbuck stepped in between. "Enough, we can't keep doing that! It's a waste of time, it's a waste of energy-- Panne, you're being a hypocrite blowing up over this little thing. I know you're worked up, you have a right to be. Just keep focusing on what we're doing and everything will be fine. And Pangoro, shut up." 

Biting her tongue and grunting away an itch in her throat, the Braixen turned back towards the unrelenting fog and raised the meager flame into the air. What a terrible night this was going to turn out to be. "We need a bigger piece of wood to ignite if we're going to be running around in the dark. Keep your eyes out for things like fallen branches." They extended their dogged march into the draining grey. 

If the mist hadn't been enough, dusk made sure they could hardly see their own hands in front of them, much less something camouflaged on the forest floor. The insignificant torch did little more than serve as a beacon so that nobody accidentally wandered away trying to watch their own steps. Whatever progress they hoped to achieve in finding the source of the dream sickness were thoroughly daydreams compared to the blind crawl they were forced to take. She silently cursed herself for not ensuring this end was tied while they were still surrounded by an older woods. Pangoro, apparently fed up with his impaired vision among other things, suddenly jumped up into a tree they were passing and shuffled about before returning to the grass with a nerve-wracking crack and a thud. He handed the Braixen a limb freshly tore away from an unsuspecting tree, leaves and all. "Here, this is less stupid." 

And indeed it was, at least after she had torn away most of the jutting twigs and summer leaves. The light they earned after she coaxed the still-living wood into burning wasn't very impressive by her standards, but any improvement was welcome in a time as trying as this. The only issue was that it was now possible to see the tide and ripples of air currents as the fog curled around them, sometimes giving the impression that something else was shifting about just out of sight. What filled her with more unease was the fact that they had no idea where they were going and no way to determine where they have and haven't been. There were procedures to this kind of lost, plenty of ways to make sure they emerged from this plight unharmed, but she was trying to dive deeper. Only when they're so hopelessly twisted up in this funk could they find what they were looking for. 

'Guys, freeze," Meowstic's voice practically pleaded in her ear. 'There's actually something to our forward right. I'm not kidding.' 

They've had plenty of false flags before, but as the party held their breath and dug their feet into the dirt, a static figure did stand amidst the flowing ocean of vapor. The silhouette was nearly her height, but what it lacked in vertical presence was made up for by its stout posture. Their lungs were deprived still of air as she aimed the torch in the direction of the pokemon. It moved to turn, but there was something eerie enough about the motion that it could pull gasps through teeth. Panne swallowed her initial terror and straightened her back. 

"Hey, you there! What's going on out here?" 

The figure began to move away without even registering their presence, quickly fading into shadows just beyond the torches reach. But the Braixen wouldn't let them escape so easily, retaking control over her own legs and speeding forward into the mist. Where the figure had once been it was not, and where it should have been at the speed it walked away-- that, too, was empty space and pebbles. "Wait! Get back here!" she called, hesitating from how the sound of her shout was almost muffled entirely. Surely they hadn't strayed far enough from the mountains that loud cries wouldn't be emphasized by echoes, had they? A few meters of distance more gave the same lonely result. The rest of the group kept close to her side, just as bewildered as when they had began. 

"There really was something there, right? That wasn't just the mist?" Sliggoo said, staring cautiously behind as if expecting to be ambushed by the same figure. 

'I swear, there was definitely an impression being made by a physical, real thing. It was right here!' 

Now the entity was toying with the whole of them, too? Panne had to let loose a flurry of coughs before she was able to growl the way she liked at whatever lurked where no one couldn't see. It was surely listening, why wouldn't it be after demonstrating how easily it could play with their senses? There had to be some other reason besides sadism that it was becoming more aggressive in its appearances. Were they finally getting close to where it was hiding Vallion? Of course, there stood the chance that the strange sight wasn't even related to the thing that tried to sway their minds towards discontent. Who even knows how many nasty spirits were being attracted to this place right now? 

If their pace was cautious before, now they were moving at a glacial fraction of what she could consider an acceptable speed for their desperation. Their perceptions were being dampened altogether, even going as far as to absorb the volume of their shouts like a pillow. And if they couldn't carry their voices any farther than a few yards, it probably meant that they wouldn't hear anything approach until it was already very well upon them. Panne hated the vulnerable feeling that stabbed into her gut and clogged what little was still open in her neck. Perhaps even more than she hated the constant burning in her sinuses. Thinking upon it, she realized that the ailment was taking a mighty toll on the integrity of her eyelids, only forced open so wide because of the consequences associated with shutting them even slightly around here. 

"Sawsbuck." Holding the torch in a trembling arm extended straight sideways, the Braixen stopped the party. "You don't feel a little.. sleepy, do you? Not just from the journey here, but a drained kind of tired?" 

She looked to the grass below and blinked several times in contemplation if such a worldly urge was present at all. "Oh. Y-yeah! I do want to lie down a teensy bit. Not nearly enough to actually do so, but the want is there." 

Looking around at the others, they seemed to start noticing the same thing lingering on the very fringes of their consciousness. It would have been tangible just behind their eyes, like a headache that had yet to be born, the seed of which their foe would cultivate and effortlessly force them to the ground. All this would instantly be for nothing at the snap of its fingers, if it even had hands at all. "Right. It's as good as time as ever, I suppose. Energy seeds would really be what we need most right about now, but a few heal seeds will do the job just fine." 

Pangoro spoke up. "I've got some of those, actually. Accidentally brought a few I was saving up with the rest of my blast seeds, so we're not entirely surviving off caffeine. I always sell the revivers, though." A few strange looks, including hers, caused him to take a defensive posture. "What? So I go out and collect stuff, what's the big deal? It's not like Meowstic even leaves her house for anything more than groceries." 

"Keep 'em. We're probably going to need them later anyway," Panne said as she dug around in Sawsbuck's pack to find the pocket of seeds. Everyone was given one to crack their teeth into, leaving a single extra behind just in case a real ailment came to be. It shattered by force of her back teeth and all its nutritious contents scattered across her tongue. She gathered saliva to swallow as many pieces as she could find, but there'd surely be debris to be found over the next few minutes. As long as most of it went down, there was a slight barrier between their bodies and the sleeping spell. Whether it would be enough was something that had yet to be tested, and if luck would finally cast a glimpse her way, never would. 

It was around then that the mist itself began to churn threateningly. No longer products of an individual's impressionable mind, the crawl down a hill was made terrifying by unexplainable creaking in the distance, always just out of sight from their dilated eyes. They were made to be doubly careful as to not slip and tumble into the blackness and test if they truly were more than tricks. Better safe than sorry, after all. Anyone here might suffer a heart attack and die with all the stress lingering about. At times the Braixen considered tossing bursts of fire into the mists to see if they were truly being assaulted with mirages or not. In the end, whatever was weaving this foul weather probably wanted her to waste her strength curing that frightened curiosity. 

At the bottom of their descent and in the darkest dark was nothing more than the bottom lip of a cliff they had effectively encircled. She couldn't say how tall the wall was from here, but assuming it was a part of the crags running off the side of Revelation Mountain, high enough that a fall from its top would assuredly be lethal. Nevertheless, they were sliding along the bottom, and it served as a wonderful way to cover an angle that would otherwise have to be skittishly supervised. Now there would be more room to scan for the convenient treasures usually generated within the magical confines of a mystery dungeon, things that could possibly aid them in the battle against whatever actually decides to be corporeal. It'd be good to fill at least a single slot of the emera brace on her arm, which had gone ignored for so long due to some horrible streak of misfortune. Though it was likely a prayer better spent towards the well-being of Vallion. There hasn't been a sign of even emera dust thus far in, why would there be now? 

Panne would sometimes imagine that, maybe if she concentrated hard enough, the twin scarves that her and Val wore would start to gravitate together and reveal the correct way forward. The mental exercise consistently lead to a moment of disappointment and the waste of a bated breath, but things usually had a weird way of working out if there was enough stubborn faith involved. Special material or not, these sheets of plant fiber were no more useful than they looked. Such was not even a function of the true scarves of life from years ago, and if anything was going to have a dumb power like that, it would have been them. The childish hope at least brought a little light to what would otherwise be a doomed situation by anyone's standards. And this was coming from one of the most well-trained and veteran pokemon in the entire planet when it came to adventuring, or at least the most notable of those things. Why would she ever think about giving up? 

Because it was probably too late. 

She shook her head, glaring at the rugged path they took alongside the sheer rock face and fighting off the burning in her sinuses. There it was again, that voice which just wasn't quite her own. Prodding, twisting, and making grim sense where it didn't belong. It was such a confident and conceited presence that it thought to manipulate her even when she was very much in the right mind to notice such an intrusion. And what of it now? Was it going to start having a conversation with her or something?... "I know you can hear me. I won't let you have control over me anymore," she mouthed, the only sound being the whisper of her breath passing through the motions of her tongue. "And I won't let you hurt anyone else." 

The blackness did not answer back, nor did the artificial pessimism that had been implanted onto her mind's tongue. Not that it had left by any means. It was a creature of the proportion of children's tales meant to curb bad behavior with fear, waiting patiently for a faltering spirit to pounce upon and turn against themselves. She didn't think it was Darkrai, yet while trapped in the center of its spell, it could have been twice as powerful and plenty more dangerous than even a hyperbole brought to truth. If she had to liken these phenomena to anything, then the great dragon of inversion Giratina was the closest thing she could think of that had the potential alone for.. all this. Of every realm and land to thoroughly map and explore, if this was what the distortion world was like, then there wasn't REALLY the need for another paragraph under her name, was there? 

"Ow, watch it!" Pangoro's outburst nearly had her jump a foot in the air, though she expected a scream of terror long before the bickering started up again. "I already told you, my ankle got hurt while on the path coming here. If you make me fall and I can't walk anymore, you're going to be the one that has to carry me around!" 

"Quit being a baby. I barely touched you," Sliggoo replied in turn. "And as if I'm responsible for your tiny wittle tolerance of pain. You're nearly twice the size of all of us, how do you expect me to carry you?" 

The dark type had apparently found it necessary to halt in place to begin this argument, stopping the rest of the party as a result. "Why's everyone always messing with me today? It's not funny if I legitimately cannot move on, and just casually knocking me over and risking my crappy joints breaking is only going to get us in deeper trouble. If we have to stop and deal with that, someone's going to end up dying from the wait. Can you honestly expect everything to be jolly then?" 

"Guys, hush!" Sawsbuck's plea went unheard. 

"It's your body, do you think I'm responsible for which direction you crash into me in? Even these kinds of little things you make into huge productions, adding on and on and always blaming someone else," the Sliggoo began to erupt. "No, I WON'T carry your dainty ass. I got done with letting you push me around years ago, and just because you've evolved doesn't suddenly give you power over everyone again. The fact that you're bigger at all makes it pathetic an achy ankle would make you whine so much!" A violent fit of coughing split his rage. 

"Guys!" Even Meowstic was speaking up now, shouting with vocal chords that rattled with illness. 

Pangoro wouldn't care much. "What? Are you seriously still insecure about all that? I thought you had grown up a little more after all this time, but apparently my existence still offends you," his voice was raised, its echo muffled by the mists and his phlegm cleared as part of a convenient growl. "So you were gullible once, so what? We're in the middle of a mystery dungeon! we're trying to save the village and a life, and you're just going to start this right now? How about you just shut up before you get everyone else killed, too?" 

"PANGORO!" Panne screamed at the top of her lungs, squeaks of pain in-between syllables. 

"WHAT!?" he finally turned from the dragon type and proceeded to choke on his lungs with the same degree of explosiveness. But he had received silence for an answer. Nobody dared move a muscle, staring down somewhere at his feet with wide eyes and gaping maws. Even Sliggoo, who had just a moment before been fuming with reawakened frustration, was rendered quiet. He followed their gaze down and searched for whatever they were picking up on that was so startling, speaking up in confusion rather than fury. "Wh- what?" 

The Braixen raised the torch a little higher into the air before moving it slowly from side to side. The experiment had some grave merit, as she gradually began to encircle the dark type with unswerving eyes below. "Dont. Move." He did as he was told, scanning desperately for what everyone seemed to find was the most frightening thing in the world. The only thing which seemed to be there to look at was the light's grace moving the angle of his shadow, but that all was approximate and correct. All except that there was a slight dynamic lighting that bounced a second shadow to intertwine with the first, like how a wall could reflect the sun back and create two different dull impressions of a person at the same time. 

But there were no white walls by which to reflect light from. It was the dead of night, and the only ever had a single source of illumination at once. 

Her hand not supporting the branch was pointed towards the anomaly, and radiating off the fine fur was a soft flame that danced through her fingers and lapped at the air. Even the ever-changing mists seemed to freeze in the moment as she steadied herself and channeled a single, drawn-out exhalation. What came forth from the tips of her claws was a probing swell of fire, something so brief and gentle that the heat wouldn't even have enough time to burn a person, yet the reaction was catalytic. Fearful yelps exploded from the lot of them as the simple trick of light turned quickly into a black mass and rose from the ground. Finally discovered, the shadow grew and participated a cackling shriek as it burst into the air and shot straight towards Panne. 

She crossed her arms to protect herself from the impact, but it only passed entirely through her and into the ambiguosity of the fog behind. While nothing truly touched her, the air was ripped from her lungs and in its place was left an horrible chill that somehow resulted in a feeling of disgust. Then came the deep sting in her nose, which was enough to bring her to her knees and force a gagging response from her body. The torch was all the support she had as to not completely crumple from the squalid sensation. There hadn't even been any fear left while her fingers dug into the dirt, resisting the urge to lose the water and stomach bile knocking at the bottom of her throat. Though her nostrils still burned and her chest remained cold, she had eventually gathered enough composure to take stand again and scowl. 

"What the hell!?" Pangoro certainly hadn't had any rage left now, and not just since its source had fled with the malicious spirit's departure. 

'I- That wasn't a Gengar, was it? It looked like one, but.. Why couldn't I see it?' even Meowstic's telepathy sounded as frantic as she was, stuttering and breathy as if she lacked the right mind to stop imitating her true voice. 'God, it was so obvious! Why was it so hard to notice? I should have felt it so long ago, why.. ?' 

Panne kept her eyes trained on the murky direction the ghost had escaped towards, almost expecting the figure they had seen earlier to be standing there mockingly in the distance. Most of the panicked speech and apologies behind her went right over her head and passed insignificantly into the muffling vapors. For once tonight, they had a chance at gaining some information impossible to gather from the environment alone. Spirit or not, that Gengar-- or whatever it was-- would absolutely have a font of answers about what's been going on and where they should go. Hell, it might have even been the cause. It's certainly been hounding them for long enough that coincidence was a concept too stale to consider. They were meant to be frightened off or completely at odds with one another by now, it wanted them gone. Weren't these kinds of spirits supposed to be cruelly playful at worst? 

"Uh, hey." She heard Sawsbuck trying to get her attention, to which she finally turned from the fog and looked back at the party. "Are you alright? You don't look so good, and the Gengar did kind of fly right through you." 

'I don't even know if it was that!' Meowstic put her hands on her head, glancing away from anyone's gaze. 'Like, I felt something was around us, but that's been a constant since ever we left for the mountain. These kinds of things should NOT be able to hang around like that, especially something as big as it was.' She might have continued on with the tangent, but the base of a branch lit on fire was thrust suddenly into her feline arms. The Braixen let go of their torch and glanced back towards the ghost's route of escape. 

A preparatory sigh. "Come on. We need to start going after it soon, or else we're actually going to lose trace and be stuck in this same rutt all night. This is pretty much our only hope." Panne brought a spark to the palm of her hand once more, yet it was not one to launch. While the heat it released continued to grow, the visible body of the flame grew first before shrinking back down, brightened enough to rival the makeshift torch itself. No doubt her arm muscles were going to start cramping in protest of the flare before long, but it probably wouldn't be any less necessary than most of the bodily fatigues she was having to endure anyway. 

"Do- do we really have to?" said Sliggoo, who had lost nearly all the energy that had fueled him not moments ago. 

"We don't have time to be scared, we need to go now! It's going to get away if we wait any longer!" With a beckon of her free hand, she held the illuminating palm in her front and took off into the emptiness. The lethargy of her legs at first deeply limited the sprint as the rest of the party scrambled after, but the quickening of her heart and excitement in her blood did away with exhaustion. It was from finally rushing head-first into the mist that had been antagonizing them for all this time, from the wind whipping at her fur as restlessness was answered, and plenty from the golden opportunity that opened up in this otherwise hopeless situation. The run felt as though it were melting away the weight that had been pulling on her shoulders even despite the bag hitting her back with every falling step. It was a declaration that the darkness would no longer scare and control her. 

She would have noticed better the calls of her friends as they fell behind from her newfound speed, but determination beat in her ears much louder than safety. It propelled her forward like a rocket, undermining the unnerving nature of the hills they were trapped in. There wasn't any time to think about what lurked ahead when she had dedicated most mental processes to dodging the boulders and trees that hastily appeared in her field of vision. Even the flare in her palm seemed to burn brighter as a result of the unreserved sprint. What could anything in this fog do to her besides discourage and corral? With a feeling like this, she was practically invincible against their cowardly hallucinations. Yes, this Gengar won't ever manage to get away, and Vallion would be in her arms again by tomorrow morning. 

 

Part 2

The haze offered no resistance in the same way it devoured sound and light, letting the Braixen slice through its thickness as easily as her legs would carry her. However, the jagged land it shrouded was not quite as generous, offering her mazes of inclines and deep layers of brush that were impassable with this kind of dark. Still, her focus was unswerving to find any strange forms in the fog while dodging through the veritable landscape. Over patches of moss and dew she chased, around trees and up plenty of the hills that boxed her in. Any sign or trail to possibly be found of the Gengar was washed away in a sea of mirages and sourceless sounds, and she would have otherwise been absolutely terrified of every single one. But she had spent days being terrified now, and the tower of stress had finally toppled over in the right direction. Now only agitation and anger resided in the place where that phobia had been. It was as the way a cornered beast forgot about fear before long and lashed out with the will to survive. 

What wasn't as lastingly volatile as her rage was the strength of her own body, which had been battered and overused for just as long. Panne found a solitary tree to lean against after having sighted nothing of the ghost and pressed her back deep into its warped bark. With a sickened respiratory system she wheezed and heaved, temporarily placing herself in total darkness from the irresistible pain of a knotted muscle in the arm which held the concentrated flame. But she was far too fed-up and momentarily exhausted to care, concentrating only on gathering herself up once more as quickly as possible. While she wasn't fazed much by the inability to see in her current state, it might have very well been dangerous to be around without a light. Maybe the hallucinations they experienced were not at all that, and were simply repelled by virtue of the torch? Maybe these vapors were simply hallucinogens all along? Heat radiated against the cold as she conjured the same spell in her opposite palm. It was probably better not knowing. 

As the flare bloomed and brought sight back once more, it turned out there weren't demons scrambling to kill her in the blackness after all. And still no sight of the spirit she was chasing down. On that note of emptiness, she had also completely outran the rest of her friends and now was alone with no way to call out for them. Surprisingly, the situation was much less anxious than it probably should have been. While calm wasn't exactly the right word, she probably wouldn't have been adverse to the Gengar showing itself and confronting her. It'd be very preferable to zipping around the hills more and getting in even deeper trouble. 

"Hey! Get back out here!" she shouted out, still with no echo and resulting in no response. The outlines of her shadow remained solid and empty, but she couldn't have been fully abandoned. Her stomach was lurching far too much and her fur was standing strikingly on end for there to be absolutely nothing around. "Do you hear me? I'm all alone now, just a helpless little girl out in the middle of the woods! Wouldn't it be scary for a Gengar to pop out of nowhere and attack her!?" ..Nothing. Maybe it didn't buy that she was a helpless little girl after all. 

It was probably best in a situation like this to start preserving what little energy she had left and walk. There was no telling where she had come, or whether there was a fifty foot drop just a few meters away at any given time. Most places in the wilderness of the Water Continent looked generally the same when she could only observe ten feet of it at a time. She really was vulnerable to a great deal of manipulation right now, and it was truly annoying that nothing had tried to take advantage of that. It wasn't as if the Gengar was too hurt to continue its antagonizing, she barely even nicked it with something no more potent than waving a hand over a campfire. Forget this weird search for trouble, it should have been the one coming to her. 

"Come on, I know you're out there! Who do you even think you are, picking on us like you have? I've tripped on rocks more dangerous than you!" And unlike those terribly effective rocks, no harm came to her in the moments following the baiting bravado. It was more insulting to be ignored like this than it was comforting, considering the entire point of her doing something as stupid as running from her party was to find and be found. She scoffed at the soundless air and decided to fill it again with the sound of her feet brushing through grass. If it weren't so intentionally disturbing out here, she would have found a lot of peace in the sheer silence of it all. When not surrounded by four other people breathing heavily from being on the verge of panicking, the unnerving nature of the cloud was rendered almost peaceful. 

That lull lit up almost as soon as the obstruction she was starting towards was determined to be anything but another bush. A short yet rotund figure. It was the same one as before standing in her way. The illuminating flame of her bravery flickered threateningly at the sight, but a controlled breath through her teeth served to stabilize herself. She was looking for this kind of thing to happen anyway. "Hey you. Were you the one who ran screaming from just a teensy bit of fire? Are you just going to pop out of existence like last time when I walked towards you?" No wavering, no answer. Fine. 

With the first step forward that would actually reveal some detail, she blinked for a fraction of a second and it had moved farther back into the mists instantly. Determined, the Braixen continued to press forward and watched the figure continually bounce back as soon as any part of it might touch the light. Her pace quickened to try and catch it off-guard and finally witness what this strange body truly was. But she hesitated-- and so, too, did the ghostly image halt with her. One thing even more stupid than running away from her friends was actually allowing something indiscernible to lead her into a trap. "Hm, is that what you're trying to do?" she spoke up, not expecting anything in return. "Well fine. If you're trying to get me to go that way, then the opposite is probably where Val is." 

It only took a few feet of defying the figure's wishes for it to appear in the direction she had come from. "Getting jealous, are you? Well out of my way, I've got a Servine to save and you're distracting me." A gasp was ripped from her lungs as the image didn't move away when she approached it. Rather than a ghost, it was a Grumpig that was blocking her path, or what at least had taken the form of one but hadn't at all looked like they should. Its eyes were still too dark to read from here, but the way it continued to remain entirely motionless beckoned that it probably wouldn't do well for her composure to have seen them anyway. Of all the questions that were raised, the lack of burning in her nose more or less confirmed that this wasn't the Gengar-shaped black blob she was looking for. "...Right. What's up with you?" 

When it finally did begin to move, she was clever enough to recognize the motions of it touching its temples and dodge out of the way before it could launch any kind of psychic attack upon her. The space where she had once been hummed with invisible danger. She kept moving around it, all the while having to bear the weight of multitasking different kinds of fire type techniques in either her hands. Flare still maintained, Panne swiped with her other arm to set forth an arc of fire through the air at the apparently physical foe. The fact that it was swift enough to dodge out of the way wasn't the surprising part, but that it did so without teleporting and instead shifting backwards uncharacteristically quickly for its body. She chose to steer the momentum already being carried and darted directly away from the Grumpig, hoping that the mist would impair its ability to mentally strike as it did Meowstic. As the instant glow of a psybeam barely nicked the hair of her ear, it assumedly didn't. 

It was only after a few seconds of running that it had decided to materialize before her and begin the arming of another psychic attack. However, it had underestimated the agility of the Braixen, who had weaved back and forth and kept close to the ground as to interrupt its concentration. As she pounced to deliver both concentrated palms of flame to the center of its mass, the Grumpig once more demonstrated its supernatural reflexes and blocked the entirety of her kinetic might with a single arm, as well as allowed the heat to scorch a much less vital part of its body. Her expression was one of disbelief before darkness fell like a stone in a river. Their movements were invisible, yet she ducked away in time to hear a second psybeam pierce the air where she once was. 

A rudimentary stream of fire from her maw brought a moderate amount of light again, enough to see that the unnatural pokemon had already rotated from its position as well, plenty far enough away for the attack to whiff. Panne had no choice but to begin this erratic dance again with only an inefficient burning at her fingers to illuminate where she was meant to run at all. It hadn't given her an inch of quarter, trying still to land squarely its influence on the signature of her mind and disrupting slightly her thoughts as a result of the near misses. God knows she couldn't keep this up for long enough if landing attacks on its arm was the best damage she could do. It hadn't been long enough since the sprint for her lungs to cooperate without growing painful. 

Too slow. The Braixen tumbled to the ground as some overwhelming pressure erupted behind her eyes and screamed into her head. She had hardly even noticed the fall, more worried for the capillaries of her brain bursting than anything. It sounded like static was exploding into her ears, and that was all that would come to mind besides the comprehension of pain. Panne ground her teeth together and took a shallow breath just managing to stand back up again. 

"Y- ngh.. think this trick is- is new?" Luckily, the act of creating at all fire was mostly muscle memory at this point, otherwise it'd be next to impossible to control. At the risk of her eyes rolling back into her head or popping out, she found the Grumpig. "You think-k.. I haven't dealt.. with worse than this?" There was a maliciousness to the attack that left her claim in question, but she wasn't about to kill her own banter already. Using the crude flame already being held by both her hands, she relinquished the rest of the trapped air in her lungs and summoned it to become a true ball of fire. The fling was rather pathetic by anyone's standards, yet whether it landed directly or not was irrelevant. Only that what was grinding at her thoughts was halted for just a second long enough to scramble forward. 

A strand of saliva fled from her mouth as she charged forth with heat building on the back of her tongue. The Grumpig had no time at all after the attack had ended to readjust before a desperate inferno erupted from between her teeth and washed over its body. The primal tide burned her throat as much as it did her foe, but there really wasn't any better choice of attack when a split second could have dashed the opportunity away. From beyond the mists suddenly came a flicker of motion, almost insignificant in the moment, but darkness covers darkness. What flew in front of the flamethrower did so with a body as black as coal, snuffing out the attack as easily as one would a candle. Light disappeared as Panne tried to retreat away before a counterattack could be launched upon her. But it was probably too late, as she had an intense urge to cough as hard as she could almost immediately. 

Where courage had once been in her chest was filled instead with cold waves of panic. The mental assault had left her vulnerable and impressionable, allowing the ghost to almost effortlessly feed on her emotions and bend them to its will. Every burst of heat which followed was one made shouting in fear, as it felt like the dark was trying to close in and crawl down her throat. They seared the inside of her windpipe and singed the tips of her fingers, yet the only safety to be had was in these dim flashes of combustion in any which direction. It wasn't until now did she feel truly alone in these accursed hills. 

Panne channeled the heavy drum of her heart and ran as quickly as she could, stumbling over scraping rocks without the feeling of pain to interrupt. But no matter how quick she was, there was always something just barely on her heels at all times, clawing for the back of her neck and vying to throw her legs out from under her. Turning to confront it with flame only meant that the Gengar had swerved behind her and was resultingly closer because of it. She wanted to double over and start heaving, to cower and scream and ignite the whole landscape for just a moment of peace without something infiltrating her shadow. Instead, she held her nose and began to choke on the very air she could hardly breath in the first place. And there was a constant screeching in the air, always distant yet seemingly placed directly beside her ear. Tears began to stream down her face as she shouted for it all to stop. 

Two red eyes glared at her from afar. They taunted her, calling her name over and over in the voice of her friends. The despicable creature sought only to torment her like a child playing with their food. Desperation bred strength she did not have, and the cornered beast within drew that might to her fingertips as oxygen in the atmosphere was forced to react in blazing violence. The scratches and laughing and chasing would end if only to preserve another. She had to make it to Vallion, this hell was surely nothing compared to the one where she was alone. And yet, as the dots of red approached and the heat began to travel to her wrists and up her arm, they became one again. The friends she had ran from pressed through the fog, seemingly illusions to accompany the voices that had been stolen. What she imagined were eyes had been the dulled light of the torch she had abandoned. 

"Panne!" Sawsbuck was first to notice the Braixen's slumped form, and ran forth with the others shortly behind. There was no illusion involved, no cruel trick of the mind. All the shards of strength she had gathered to fight back were promptly scattered again as tears continued to soak into the coat of her face. 

"What are you, stupid!? Why did you run away from us?" Pangoro moved like himself and shouted like himself. The punch that landed on her already bruised shoulder was something no spirit could possibly recreate, and though the pain caused her to moan, the reassurance was more than worth it. "You could have gotten yourself killed! Why on earth would people think I'm the dumb one when you're a legendary explorer of all things and doing this kind of stuff?" 

Dazed still from the encounter, she hadn’t even the emotions to spare to blow up at Pangoro for screaming at her. Panne reached for the dying torch and steadied her breath to blow gently over its dying flame. It wasn't long before their light had been restored to its former glory after a little air and some pyrotechnical prowess were applied. She hadn't spoke at all afterward, and those who had gotten over the reunion began to take worry of her aghast expression. All seemed quite well at the moment, but there was a chance even now that everything was already lost. What if the Grumpig and fully overpowered her mind and this was some artificial delusion to keep her from suspicion? Unfortunately, in the event of such a complex and cruel defeat, there was pretty much no way of knowing for sure. It was best to assume that she had bought some time and truly did overcome the odds, as her head was already pounding enough and hope was in far too short supply. 

"Uh, can you.. talk? Or stand at all? What even happened?" Sliggoo said as he examined the fresh scrapes and missing patches of fur that weren't there before. 

A sigh rose rather than a response as she grunted away the Gengar's sickness and took a shaking stand. Another reason she grabbed the branch was that, even halfway burned away, it was long enough to still be support for her abused limbs. The last of her tears cleared from the corners of her vision. "Sawsbuck, give me.. Give me the last heal seed. I feel like I’m dying." 

It shattered inconveniently in her back teeth as the one had before it, but the slight improvement was more than worth such a mundane issue. Not that the seed itself would do much to actually heal her, but it would dampen the pain of her burned throat for long enough to bear. She was just as soon interrogated with questions about what put her in this sorry state, if not the gravity of the atmosphere itself. However, even if the Braixen was in the mood to speak at all, she hadn't the words to describe the terror that was inflicted upon her. Not even the Grumpig was worth the breath and discomfort to make known. It obviously wasn't a natural inhabitant lost in the fog that engulfed its home, and the sinister motives behind it was likely something they were going to find out anyway. 

"I think we ought to head this way," Panne summoned her ragged voice and pointed from whence she ran from. "If not there, then I have no idea. Val's got to be somewhere past that point, it's far too heavy in that direction for it to not lead to the source." 

'So you found the Gengar, then?' She winced from the introduction of another psychic presence buzzing in the tender flesh behind her temples. 'You look like you have. Is it still around? I can't trace it at all, but you've only got a single shadow right now.' 

Her tired shoulders shrugged, and that was it for her explanation before they started towards the only vague direction they had left. Whether it was simply another trap or not was irrelevant, for any activity was another chance at learning something. To become prisoner of an enemy was indeed a radical yet plausible way to gather information. The only problem associated with the technique was that you had to survive with that knowledge, much less actually escape and put it to use. Though that thought was usually related to kingdoms and warbands and other things that would actually keep prisoners to begin with. A couple of corrupted, supernatural foes and malicious spirits were probably not the kind to leak information, or let someone live for that matter. That Grumpig wasn't exactly trying to subdue her. 

They passed by the tree she had leaned against when her lungs had finally decided that enough was enough. It was assumedly the right direction to be heading, why would she have been so adamantly lead astray from here if it wasn't? She could think of a few reasons, but there was no use in trying to disprove herself now. Actually walking was far more important than sitting on the ground with a dying light source and wondering from guesses and vaguely remembered landmarks where to go. If they stopped now, then whatever ruled this fog would have surely won. Nevermind the reluctance that tried hard to steer her body away or settle to the ground under the guise of rest. Self-preservation might as well have been the Gengar's prodding at this point. 

As the party plunged from what seemed to be more mild plains back into a place of vertical density, the air was not what it had been before. Unlike a ghost's chilling presence which inspires dread and paranoia, all around them was some kind of energy that felt closer to an electrical charge than anything. It was reassuring to feel any indicator at all that this land was different from the one they were trapped inside. And with that renewed motivation came equal amounts of dread from imagining what could have been releasing an aura as intimidating as this. The ends of her hair tingled wildly as they dropped in altitude into where the energy had pooled between hills. The gasps of the others made it known that this was no mere personal effect, either. 

Soon the very air began to hum with that charge. It buzzed against her teeth and filled her lungs with anticipation, the only thing missing from the flood of stimuli was an ominous glow to pour out of the ground and flit into the air. Even the mist was excited by the energy, seemingly being affected by a push and pull rather than the passive drifting that would have characterized it before. She half expected a strike of lightning to suddenly tear through the invigorating monotony and blast them all apart. But there was nothing except wonderment, at least not yet. The thriving plant life of these damp crevasses were the most impeding things they had encountered so far after having entered into this strange phenomenon. 

While not exactly life-threatening, the thickets only intensified the deeper they pressed searching for the source. Though the vegetation was too damp to catch fire from the torch, the same aspect forced her to keep the torch aloft as to prevent it from becoming extinguished.. It made simple things like seeing one another not two feet away difficult, and the solid ground they stepped upon became officially impossible to predict. There was plenty of times where a puddle of water and mud would suddenly exist beneath their next step and someone let loose a yelp. With each time came the expectation that it was a much deeper than it truly could have been. Perhaps some of the old paranoia still remained after all. Or maybe it had something to do with how wet they were becoming from trudging through this brush, and how it felt as though static electricity would jolt up through their bodies on any given step. 

Leaves were practically vibrating from the frequency by the time she had noticed that a wall of ivy had a suspicious depression. Upon pressing the torch to it, the strands of green seemed to be intentionally placed, and behind them was blackness rather than the usual earthen colors. Just the action of staring into the void stung at the pores of her skin where fur grew. There wasn't any doubt about it, this had to be their destination. The struggle to find footholds amidst the meter-long grass wasn't nearly as jarring as actually entering into the cave and trying to breath subterranean air thicker than syrup. Just as soon would they all scream and leap back out as a black blur zipped by and burst into the night behind them. Yet it was much too small to be a Gengar, and it seemed completely unrelated to their presence altogether. Panne steeled her nerves with the resulting excitement. "I forgot about the Unown! We're here!" 

The cave deafened their senses, but not in the same supernatural way that the mist had, rather through overexposure to the murmuring power bouncing from the walls. Tight rock formations warranted many daunting squeezes for some of them, but this place was far too bewildering to make any worried complaints. It was more than the tricks of a ghost type or simple sensory depravity, as the frequency down here was rattling her very thoughts with that hum. Her mind was scattered and distracted enough that she could only reliably think about moving forward and holding the shortened torch higher for all the see with. Even trying to visualize memories was difficult, a fuzziness lining the fringes of any mental image she could muster. It even manipulated their flame to dance so erratically it seemed like there was a wind swirling through the tunnel that simply wasn't there. Whatever answers they found down here would likely be spectacular ones. 

Not much deeper into the ground was a dark opening much more like an explosive excavation than a natural entrance. Holding their light forth revealed the larger chamber within, much deeper than previously anticipated and far more spacious to simply glance into. One by one they peered inside and shuffled after Panne, bracing themselves from the incredible droning that shook their precarious footsteps as well as their minds. In any sense, there was no way that this portion of the little cave they squeezed through was created by nature. She hadn't exactly had a greater grasp of the hill this was beneath, but it was doubtfully too small to randomly form some massive cavern from that tiny passage they entered through. Though the hole into this room was probably made extremely recently, within the last few years at most. 

Every breath felt like it was in slow motion as she turned her torch to the middle of the room, a miniature mountain range of boulders and stones probably left over from the creation of this cavern. The largest of which rested in what she'd consider as the true center of it all, and upon its smooth surface were carved runes her ancient mind could barely recognize and a great crack along the stone's top. "Hey guys, come look at this," her voice sank beneath the hum, but most the party were already acutely attuned to pick up on it anyway and stared likewise at the mysterious rock. 

"Have any idea what it is?" Sawsbuck said as she brought her face close to one of the written spells and tried to decipher its contours. 

"Well I'm pretty sure it's a keystone, but it's.. littered with seals or something." The Braixen brushed her hand over one such carving, having an especially difficult time trying to think amidst all this psychic noise. "These are probably the kinds of things they used to put souls into I believe. It's how Spiritombs were made. Though I've never seen one even a quarter this huge, and by the looks of it, whatever they so desperately wanted to keep inside didn't care much for prisons." She traced her finger over the edges of the fissure. The stone was surprisingly warm, but as she tried to poke inside the crack, the heat was nearly equivalent to touching the cinders of a campfire. 

Pangoro turned away from the stone and stared instead at the opposite reaches of the torch's light. "There's our big spooky ghost, then. It's just a giant Spiritomb. No problem, we can probably just put it back in the rock and go back home." 

She hit him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "For one, you can't just fix a keystone, Two, this thing's like one good strike from breaking in half anyway." Panne looked back to the flurry of runes and put on a scowl. "And what makes you think we can even take this thing on the way we are? What kind of ridiculous Spiritomb needs six different sacrificial rituals to keep contained, and then proceeds to break out anyway?" 

For a while longer they searched around the chamber, looking for more sigils and signs of what else could have caused this chamber to be so electrified. The keystone was suspicious, but it was just an empty shell by now. It likely couldn't give off much more power than the heat it exuded from the exit point. The torch she held high to light all their scrutinizing was beginning to grow dangerously small, a mere fraction of what it had once been a few hours or so earlier. It only had maybe a few more minutes of fuel left in it before the whole thing crumbled into ash. Suddenly she regretted not planning ahead and mutilating another tree, but how was she supposed to know that there was a cave to go spelunking in? And her arm still was cramping from keeping a flare alive for so long, too. Ah well, it could be worse. 

"Uh, hey Panne?" Sliggoo was looking straight up, not daring to move his eyes from the abyss too tall to see the ceiling of. "Can you do that, um.. super-fire thing that you did before? I think there's something on the roof of the cave." 

She was not allowed to have even those few minutes of rest. Stifling a sigh, she stretched her more cooperative arm straight upwards and gathered flame between her fingers. Everyone seemed to follow Sliggoo's glare as the light grew powerful enough to begin smoking and stuttering. The Braixen hadn't even had the capacity in her lungs to sharply inhale at the ocean of movement that had been just beyond their sight this whole time. Hundreds of Unown, every last one flitting about without ever stopping or slowing down. The words they formed and just as quickly disassembled hadn't even registered to her own buried legacy of wisdom. Many more aligned into gibberish, some broke apart sooner than others, yet in every piece of this language was a sensation of dire importance that couldn't quite be placed. 

'Over here!' Meowstic's telepathy was the only thing that could speak over the drone of the ritual. She had been peering down in between some of the large chunks of rock and beckoned to the Braixen specifically. Panne's heart fluttered with hope more potent than the mystery as she rushed forward, there was but one thing she had came here for. The increased illumination of the room had revealed the far corners that were otherwise invisible with the dying branch, and with the opposite wall being brightened came the sight of a Servine slumped over, unmoving. 

Panne wasted no time scraping her legs leaping over the jagged rocks and rushing to her lover, barely maintaining the blaze in her palm. She hadn't even noticed that those who remained behind the ridge had their light stolen from them, but there was no time to care as she wrapped Vallion up in her arms and buried her face into his neck. At the same time as the trembling reunion, she could just as well check his vitals for fear of how cold his skin had become. Part of her unshakable worry was that she couldn't even notice he was still breathing at all until placing her face directly in front of his nose. But still, there was a pulse to be found amidst the screaming anxiety and constant buzzing in her head. It'd probably take a while of trading warmth to get his metabolism back up to speed, but that was more than fine. Everything was more than fine. 

In the process of picking the Servine up over her shoulder with a single arm and carrying him over the erratic cave floor, a familiar kind of chill washed over the chamber. She nearly instantly flipped his body onto even ground and arched her own protectively over, almost expecting this kind of reaction as soon as she tried stealing him back. The rest of the party closed in around her to gain power in numbers. If she could very nearly take on both the Grumpig and the Gengar by herself, there was no way they could lose now. Flare brightened, they waited for the drone to erupt into shouts and chaos, or for their shadows to turn on them and try to claw their eyes out, yet there was nothing but the Unown above and hastened heartbeats like war drums in their ears. Something was plainly amiss if whatever was making its presence so obvious hesitated for seemingly no reason. 

It didn't take long to feel why. While difficult to to immediately detect with the already intense energy of the room, gravity was the first to become harder to bear as their stances weakened. Then their lungs began to protest as the charged subterranean air was seemingly stripped of most its oxygen. The last came the deep chilling of their blood while something of an enormous evil presented its aura effortlessly over the ghost's. It made them shiver and gag, forcing their eyes open wide as if their throats would be slit wide open if they even so much as blinked. Whether the Braixen's control over the light began to falter or the room had simply grown irreversibly darker, the entity which had been trapped in the largest keystone she had ever seen surely returned to deal with the intruders. 

The fog that had shrouded the entire mountainside in an impenetrable shroud began to seep through the excavated entrance and into the chamber. The mist became an unnatural toxic black as it endlessly streamed in. Even the Unown began to hasten the ritual with the grim appearance of the entity, their free will stripped for that of reawakened ancient instincts. Stomping through the cloud came the inevitable appearance of a stout figure she could easily recognize by now, as well as a shadow that sprawled across the floor without a form to follow. Yet they moved in unison, vaguely similar to how the black mist wavered back and forth. She should have realized much sooner that these things were acting under an even greater supernatural force. There probably wasn't a Gengar in existence that could take control over an entire valley by itself. 

When the dark spirit tried to speak, both the mouths it had enslaved and its own crowded, incorporeal boom echoed through the chamber like nails on chalkboards. "We knew you would come, insolent Mew. You would least of all abandon the rule of pairs." 

Only in the body limp between her feet did she find the strength to speak back to the creature. "What.. What do you want?! Why are you poisoning the valley? What are you going to do with Val?" Her ears twisted back as she shrunk away from the grating laughter the smoke exuded. The blackness began to condense, swirling vapors crushed together into an amalgamous form that gave the illusion of a solid surface. It soon willed on that blank skin depressions where the huge eyes and unfeeling grimace of a Spiritomb would have been. The fact that it was even able to take this form while unbound eluded her understanding, as it shouldn't have even held together at all once freed. 

"He is soon to be our eternal prisoner, and you are going to die. Your mortal body cannot hope to comprehend the sixteen hundred years we've waited for this single moment-" 

A small combustion erupted at its side and burst into smoke, its form hardly even twitched. Pangoro stepped forward baring teeth and preparing another round into his slingshot. "Will you quit ignoring me?! Just because she's a part of some freaky legacy doesn't make her any less mortal than I am-- she isn't the center of the universe for god's sake!" 

While not visibly harmed in any way, it seemed to take offense to being interrupted most of all. "Very well, speck," it's crowded voice hissed before a tendril of mist launched from the smooth surface and somehow had enough mass to send the dark type flying into the wall. Their formation had been broken, everyone rushed to embrace the chaos of battle and keep either of the puppeted pokemon away from Pangoro's recovery. Everyone except her, who crawled backwards holding Vallion to her chest with the flare spell still as high into the air as she could manage with burning tendons. It was difficult to keep track of the Spiritomb after it had dissipated again into a sinister cloud of gas, yet the Grumpig and Gengar were far more conspicuous as they clashed with her friends. 

Something below managed to catch her eye from the deathly combat erupting just ahead. Surrounding Vallion's figure was a gentle, nearly unnoticeable glow that seemed to pulsate in tune with the humming stuck in her head. As subtle as it was, she brought his unconscious body closer to her chest and clutched him in fear. Whatever insane invocation the Unown were spelling out was finally beginning to have an effect. They were running out of time, and there was no telling how long it would take for the ritual to progress past the point of no return. For one of the few times tonight, she was truly and utterly scared. 

A strangled call for her name redirected her back to the battle that mattered, to Sawsbuck being strangled and bound by the mist that fought still with the others effortlessly. The Spiritomb wouldn't dare harm the key piece to its ritual. Panne planted the swiftest kiss she had ever performed to the Servine's forehead and scrambled to her sore feet, conjuring a flame in her other hand and charging in to assist. Between Sawsbuck and the whole of the entity she unleashed a tide of flames fueled by the last of her adrenaline, to which it had pulled its influence back and freed her friend from the hold. Yet the Braixen hadn't stopped to readjust herself before dousing the rest of the cloud in that same inferno, crying out in desperate fury. “Get away, GO AWAY!” 

The same mass that sent Pangoro sprawling came to bash her in the side of the head within a split second more. Her skull rattled and throbbed as any semblance of balance was lost to the blow, unaware of which direction was which anymore. The first terror that crossed was how she could see nothing anymore, yet twisting herself around and bracing for the following blow that never came revealed the fallen torch she had abandoned twinkling on the ground, and it was known that her eyes were at least still in her head. Debilitated but not defeated, the release of her prior concentration gave both her hands the opportunity to be set ablaze with more effective techniques. 

Meowstic tried in vain to capture control over the Gengar's poisonous form, apparently affected too keenly by the evil nature of its Spiritomb master. Because her powers were ultimately ineffective, Pangoro was forced to keep it at bay with muscle, lest the psychic type's fragile body and mind became possessed and destroyed. The recuperated Sawsbuck sought to deliver a blow of her hooves to the Grumpig's head, who retained their supernatural speed and simply twisted out of the way before returning to torment Sliggoo in his weakened state. All the while this happened, the black mist spread about the floor and landed sudden blows to distract and bruise. This battle would surely be lost should it come down to attrition instead of might. 

A split-second decision was made for Panne to approach the Grumpig specifically and assist in pulling the pressure away from someone already downed. The sea of malignancy she stepped into immediately began to bite at her ankles and pull at her claws, but it wasn't enough to cancel the motion of rolling her arms forward and finally pushing a huge burning sphere forth. There was no hope for the thrall to simply evade out of the way while also fleeing from Sawsbuck, and the attack enveloped its body cleanly as well as provided light for the struggling Pangoro to fight by. The Braixen started to trudge through the murk to deal a finishing blow while it was distracted, only to feel the earth suddenly shift and trip her. With that loss of control came the realization of how high priority a target she truly was. 

The Spiritomb's smoke choked her long enough for its psychic puppet to launch the same assault upon her mind as it had earlier in the night. Agony spread across her forehead and pressed threateningly into the back of her eyes, and all the time still she couldn't find any air to swallow. Panne cried out and attempted to crawl away without any success in lessening the pain of having her head crushed from the inside out or resisting the urge to swallow her own tongue. Someone else must have landed a blow, as suddenly the hold over her was broken and she gasped in both relief and to satiate her empty lungs. And still it hadn't ended-- the strange mass tossed her into free air before an unforgiving cavern wall caught the momentum and pressed all the oxygen she had stolen straight back out. There was a familiar burning in her deep sinuses. 

She didn't stand a chance. The Gengar had no trouble infiltrating the biological triggers of her body and forcing unconsciousness. Every part of her was weighed down by a thousand tons. All that quickly remained was ache and the more acute discomfort of the inner organs of her head reacting violently enough to threaten shutting down entirely. Any coherent thought that the Braixen tried to form turned immediately into a plea for relief lost in a sea of aborted dreams, the caffeine in her system only serving to keep her semi-aware of the suffering her body was subjected to. True sleep at this point would have been the most gracious of blessing ever bestowed to her, but the Spiritomb probably wouldn't have been so kind. Why dispatch when you could torture? 

There was some vague recognition of motion, and some of that horrible pain in her throat and nose was swiftly sapped away, but her body was still far too incapacitated to gain an impression of what went on. Something else was placed into the side of her mouth and she was forced to crush it, swallowing the pieces only by instinct of muscle and the slightest amount of self-control. It didn't take long at all-- or at least the way she could comprehend it-- for life to flood back into her limbs and dull the hurt which took residence in every nerve ending. Her eyelids obeyed the command to open after having been forced shut. Pangoro didn't waste any more time and dropped her to the ground once more, which would have probably offended her had there not been a frantic struggle going on. 

But without her light, how were they all seeing? Panne craned her neck to witness the horror of how brightly Vallion had began to glisten as the battle raged. This was the yellow light everyone had been seeing at the edge of their nightmares, and now it was finally happening in reality. With huge reserves of borrowed strength, she scrambled to her feet and beckoned a renewed fire to the tips of her fingers and back of her tongue. There was no waste of time trying to discern the situation at hand. 

Spinning pillars of flame erupted beneath the dodging Grumpig's feet and tossed it like a ragdoll, as well as tearing through the mist encompassing the Spiritomb's physicality. A responding fist of darkness was deflected entirely by a deluge of superheated air from the depths of her throat. Already had the energy seed's effects began to wear away, but far too slowly to prevent her from weaving a great tornado of fire to press into the black cloud and weaken its minions. Outnumbered and now mentally undone, her friends that still had any fight left could far more easily inflict damage upon them, especially now that the impenetrable shield around their minds of countless evil souls was shattered for the time being. The Gengar was almost immediately removed from the battle by a wheezing Meowstic and fell to the ground with a very real thud. Grumpig didn't stand a chance after her surprise attack had landed anyway. 

The amalgamation of souls was all that was left by the time Panne and begun vigorously attacking the Unown above to halt the ritual. The hour of its defeat was at hand, and with a bone-chilling screech of rage, billowed towards the ritual above. But not even with the massive volume of its vaporous form could it spread thin enough to protect the only chance of coaxing a human soul into the open. Something clicked within, and all the Spiritomb rushed back down towards the earth and funneled its entirety through the Grumpig's agape mouth. The collapsed psychic type convulsed and cracked, its face contorted with uncontainable pain and horror as it was forced to a stand. Pity would have likely been her first emotion had a stream of the unintelligible language not begun to pour from the mouth it no longer owned. 

Its occult words were abrasive to even hear, stopping the Unown from continuing to rush about any further. The Braixen felt the urge to vomit as if her immune system was rejecting something unquestionably terrible. Even with the hum's ending, her brain failed to function correctly other than comprehending the sheer terror of how brightly Vallion began to shine. No longer exuding a mere moderate glow, the Servine was swathed with a golden shimmering too painful to stare directly at. The invocation was soon accompanied by the heart-wrenching sound of his agonized screams. The ritual was being sped up too quickly. 

"Stop! STOP!" Panne burst forward and unleashed a flamethrower point-blank to the Grumpig's torso. Its flesh was blackened and its face tightened in response, yet the calm and constant recital of forbidden rites continued without even so much as a stammer. "You have to stop! Shut up! Just SHUT UP!" 

From Vallion's body rose the same glowing orbs she had forced herself to forget about. But they weren't gentle like before, instead being ripped from their vessel and banefully thrown to the air. This wasn't how it was meant to be. He was really going to die. 

More flames worthlessly bounced from its unfeeling skin, charred and gruesome but not even resulting in a single skipped breath. Tears began to cloud her vision as she resorted to punching and kicking and pushing with all the might she had left. "Please stop! Please be quiet!" And yet, not even the beatings had any effect other than reminding her just how exhausted she had truly become. She continued regardless to pummel with pathetic, glancing blows while her screams became sobs of hopelessness. Not even blasting an inferno directly into its throat did anything to slow the pulsating glow. Her lover only had to cry out once more before a grave mental equation took place and summarized one of the last conclusions she should ever come to. 

Staring down at the Grumpig's pained expression, Panne's arms crossed over her stomach and straightened them with intent. The shutting of her fists felt more tangible than just that as the last of her own psychic composure was gathered and concentrated. As her still-crossed arms were raised out in front of her, so too did its head become upright and taut by force of telekinesis. It had already been agreed upon long ago that it was not always wrong to trade a life for a life. 

She swung her arms out to her sides. The resistance to her kinetic influence was minimal once a sickening crack signaled the premature end of the incantation. Limply and looking in an impossible direction, the deceased pokemon crumpled to the ground and left behind from its mouth a trail of the unnatural smoke. There was no time to process what she had done, for the glow of the Servine reacted explosively to this act. All the precious lights that swirled about in the air came crashing back down into his body like a ship taking on water. Vallion's muscles contorted uncontrollably as they were reunited with what gave them life in the first place. Only for a moment had his figure became transparent before there was an incredible flash of blinding white light and ringing. The shine itself was extremely painful, piercing straight through her flesh and searing the bones beneath. Then it became dark. 

 

Part 3

Weariness plagued her, injury added to its weight, and the ball of emotions stuck in her throat was difficult to gasp around, yet she would wordlessly force cooperation from her rebellious tendons and move forward, for half of that heaviness which kept her intimate with gravity was from the Servine on her back and shoulders. Panne crashed into the jagged cavern walls, felt the eroded rock scrape her fur away and penetrate through layers of skin, and heard those trudging behind her experience the same clumsy fate over and over again. But everything was good. A conclusion had been reached, one where she could feel the exhalations of the precious thing she struggled so hard to carry away. With not six inches of their torch remaining, barely held up in her weakened grip, the cave's verdant exit came into view. She had won. 

Thoroughly broken, the party stepped almost disastrously through the thicket outside and collapsed into the cool leaves just as soon as the opportunity arose. But not her, who stoked the last of their light source and stuck it into a nearby dirt wall, giving her only a candle's worth of vision at most. The Braixen went through the grunting effort of placing Vallion into the grass as gently as she could muster. He let loose a harrowing cough the moment his back touched the ground, then allowed his rough tongue to spell out the first thing he's said to her since they had been ripped apart. 

"So.. thirsty..." 

Quivering with the will to keep moving but without the liveliness to support it, Panne removed her bag and felt around for the plastic container of their canteen. She lifted his head with one hand and undid the cap with the other, very deliberately pouring the liquid past his lips so that he might realize there was something there to drink at all. The green scarf still adorned his neck even after all this torment and turmoil, the Spiritomb hadn't even cared to remove it. It reminded her of times before, back when Dark Matter still threatened the world and the original scarves were around. She remembered the deep contemplation of sharing her most special possession with him at all, and the certainty that drove her despite the unshakable anxiousness. He had turned away from the water to begin his shallow breathing again. 

His eyes opened gradually to the dim light. Panne was the first thing he would see, trying hard to smile from ear to ear but having only the strength to give a smirk at best. "Morning, sleepyhead. You're not dead after all." 

"Wha.. Where am I?" 

"Somewhere around Revelation Mountain, we really have no idea. Now's probably not the time to worry about getting back anyway." It never mattered when they had gotten heinously lost before, it was practically a bonding activity and almost figuratively their career. All that really mattered now what that they were together again. 

"How.. Are- are you a talking pokemon?" 

She choked, but regained her composure quickly. It was surely just a case of intense confusion that had overcome him while trapped in this strange situation. Who knows how long he had been a prisoner to those terrible nightmares, and what their subjects might have been? If he could be forced to recall what it was like to be human, then there must have been plenty that would jar him into a disoriented state of mind. It was a reasonable thing to assume. "Heh, come on Val. Just focus on getting yourself together for a little while. We've got plenty of time to rest up until the day comes, and it shouldn't be too hard to wander back if we use the mountains as landmarks." 

"You know my name?" His eyes were completely lost, and not the kind they could find their way back from. "Seriously, what's going on? Who are you, and how are you talking like this?" 

A hysterical giggle was the sound of her heart breaking. "C-come on! Don't kid around like this! It's me, Panne! I'm the person you love more than anything else in the whole world, remember? And I love you even more than that! You can't just make jokes like this all of a sudden, it's Pangoro levels of cruel." 

But bewilderment refused to leave his expression. He was looking into the face of a complete stranger. "But I.. I have no idea who you are. Or what- ah, where are my arms? What exactly AM I?" 

He was pleading, as if completely virgin to this world and the body he had spent so long perfecting. Leaning over him was a person that defied what he knew, and he didn't know anything anymore. What had the Spiritomb done? 

To each his cheeks she gingerly placed a hand, every tear she was supposed to cry tonight finally coming to the surface as she stared at this creature who knew nothing of how important he was to her. It meant that there were no memories left-- years and years of love and turmoil and tender vulnerability. They grew up side by side and conquered dreams greater than anyone ever has before. They had a thousand adventures together and spent a thousand nights more in the other's arms, feeling like the universe could only ever align perfectly while their bodies were entwined. All of that was gone now, and the only things left were these mocking scraps of plant fiber around their necks.


	6. Blue Skies Raining

As time went on, Panne couldn’t help but see the countless little shadows dotting the walls in her desperate scanning to find something else to think about. She noticed that the western wall had the most of the tiny bumps upon it, and to ward away the unbearable silence she forced her mind to start working out why this was the case. Perhaps the painter responsible simply grew tired and more careless as the job went on? Perhaps it was a different person entirely who was meant to handle the western side, someone a little less meticulous than the other? It was not a sin to ask for help with housework, so both were valid cases. Maybe it was just Pops himself who had struggled to create a truly smooth surface by curse of his flippers? It could have been any answer at this point, all of them were rendered worthless as a shuffling sound came from the Connection Orb in her lap. Floatzel had returned. 

Through the blue crystal he shook his head. "Nope, neither of them knew anything about this kind of amnesia. Mawile's more than willing to start her research as soon as possible though, and Jirachi seemed keen on his original idea. We'd be looking for a Hydreigon, right?" 

"That's what he told me, yeah," her voice had only gotten more hoarse the longer she withheld tears, mucus crackling still in her throat that she was forced to clear before continuing. "Something of that species, anyway. And he didn't have the slightest clue as to where." 

"Right. It's a good thing he told you, at least. None of us have even heard of this guy, unless Jirachi knows but is acting all cryptic about it." He huffed through his nose and looked towards the side, placing hands on his temples. "Okay. Archeops isn't even here right now, and I don't know if I'll be able to call him back from where he is. We'll get to looking as soon as possible with every resource that becomes available. Is Vallion safe right now?" 

She looked over towards the entrance of her room, only being able to glance partway in, yet it was plenty enough to see the rise and fall of his breathing beneath several blankets. After what his body had been through beforehand and with the entire journey back, he probably had immediately descended into sleep as soon as his head hit the cushion. Yet there was also great reason for him to be brooding intensely beneath those covers. The Braixen looked back to the gadget with sullen eyes. "I suppose so." 

"Keep a close watch over him and stay put. Assuming pretty much all his memories are gone like you say, then it's dangerous for him to be alone. He's likely going to be asking a lot of questions about what's what, use that to distract yourselves while we get this whole mess sorted out and start looking for the Hydreigon. And if that search has to go way farther than it needs to, Uxie as well." As if she'd leave his side for one second in a situation like this. She was probably going to die of sleep deprivation before this was- "Panne," Floatzel's voice broke through her tired thoughts. "You look like death. From the sound of what you were up against, that's probably not too far from the truth. Get some rest. We'll take care of it." 

"I don't think I can," the Braixen muttered beneath her breath, just quiet enough for him not to hear before the gadget turned dark and the hum of connectivity ceased. After a moment of emptiness and a fit of carelessness, she tossed it aside and ignored its clattering to the floor as she turned back to the table before her. On it was the half-empty bowl of reheated soup she had been leaning over for the past half hour prior and a glass knocked to its side that was too dry to spill. Her eyelids refused to let up their relentless assault on her continued consciousness, and glaring, disheartened, at the paint on a wall did little more than distract. She would have liked nothing more than to collapse and be done with it, but who would want to wake up in a world where everything was wrong? 

The heavy steps of her father entered in from the other room, though it seemed as though he was actively trying to lighten them the slightest amount. Panne hadn't wanted to cast a glance his way yet, but he quickly began to assess the depressed state of his daughter before sighing and sitting beside her with a thud. "Ah well, you've at least eaten something. It's all I could ask from you." He stared up at the same wall she so intensely concentrated on and slowed his breathing. It must have been awful for him, hearing her cry from just a room away and not being able to do anything about it. Letting him soak in that worry was yet another reason to mentally flagellate herself. Carracosta broke the silence again. "So, what's going on with the Society? Do they know how to fix this?" 

"No," when not speaking over the gadget, she was as meek and tiny as was true. "Floatzel said they were going to start figuring it out, though. And begin the search for the person Vallion talked about earlier. I'm supposed to stay put and make sure he adjusts to suddenly being surrounded with new everything." 

"What's happening with that ocean project you said they were about to start?" Pops whispered back. 

"I made them stop. This is more important than a dumb map." 

The awkward silence between them would have been painful had it not been for the weight that was already on her shoulders and encompassing the whole of her exhausted brain. She would have much preferred to be stuck in a social situation like that than having to bear the burden of these thoughts any longer. The future wouldn't be made so frightening, the hurt wouldn't have pierced so deep through her skin as to sting underneath her sternum, and the muscles controlling the expression of her ears might not have been so sore from bending backwards with grief. Not even the parts that ruled her frown ached quite as much. 

Carracosta tried his best to be sympathetic, probably gathering much of the drive he needed from just looking at her. No doubt she appeared as horrid as she felt, having sat down and started crying as soon as she got back and hadn't stopped since. "So there's nothing more for you to do at the moment but wait. Vallion was clever enough to get some sleep, and so should you. There's actually bags under your eyes." 

Pushing away the bowl of cold, unappealing soup, the Braixen could finally lay her head between her arms the full way. "I don't want to go to bed. If I try sleeping in the same room as him, it'll remind me something is wrong just from hearing any of the noises he makes. It's hard enough as it is stay calm right now, and I've had lots of time to think about it." Her breathing began to falter again as a troubling question was holstered at the bottom of her tongue. 

"Then you can sleep in my room," he offered before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in. 

She didn't acknowledge the embrace too enthusiastically, caught instead in a spiral trying to avoid the obvious answer to what she pessimistically wondered. Different words slipped by. "I don't want it to be morning and accidentally forget how things are. I'd sit up and be alone and realize that everything is broken again. That little piece of false hope is scarier than actually facing what happened." 

"It's not anywhere near over, sweetheart," Pops assured her, using his other arm to ruffle the fur of her back. "There's no reason to be so gloomy, it's not like he died back there. We don't know if this thing is even permanent on its own. There's no reason for us to believe we can't start bringing his memories back after enough time. Maybe we just need to find a way to jog his head into working again? If it's the same one on his shoulders as before, I don't see why not." 

"Do you.. do you think I can still love him?" 

To this, he shook his head and brought her closer. "I doubt he even remembers that he loves you right now. Give it time, the worst thing you could do is pressure him into something like that. You can still hold your feelings, but channel them into helping him along rather than expressing them physically. He's technically almost a different person because of this." She began to uncontrollably tremble again to the thought. "Hey hey, knock that off. You'll have plenty of time to start worrying about this tomorrow. He's going to be just as confused about where he is and what's going on in the morning, so you should make sure you can be there for him." 

Every instinct spoke to her that this was something much more than simple amnesia, but he was right. The very moment hope is given up and she starts to accept fate lying down is the one where her world has no choice but to remain crumpled. She couldn't just abandon Vallion like that, it would make her more of a villain than the Spiritomb that did this to him in the first place. What kind of pathetic creature would go back on the vows made not even two days ago? Panne sniffled still, failing to blink away the tiredness that somehow convinced her that the hard shell of her father was something comfortable enough to sleep against. The harsh fantasies brought by sleep were an inevitability at this point, and she'd be forced to wake up into a world where the person she cared for most no longer recognized her. There were few challenges in the past that could come close to matching something like this. 

But he was definitely right, she felt almost too tired to care. "Okay," her soft murmur the most sincere thing that had spilled past her lips since the sobs. Carracosta wouldn't let her loose of the hug until he planted a reassuring kiss atop her head, then unwrapped the Braixen and urged her towards his room. Shambling forward with the remaining strength of her stiff legs, she passed through the hall and into the homely atmosphere which smelled most of her father. This was supposed to be her and Vallion's vacation together after one of the great accomplishments of their lives, yet the first part was fought sick and the second fought miserable. At the very least it meant that there was plenty of time to fix this. 

As soon as Panne's body came into contact with the broad bed and she relinquished herself to the anxiety of sleep, it immediately began to creep in from the edges of her mind and dulled every thought. A numbness spread across her limbs like they, too, had admit defeat to this continuous string of misfortune and exhaustion. The only thing that was keeping her awake in the first place were the fresh waves of sheer worry, and now that it wasn't enough to perpetuate this feverish consciousness, the last thing that could possibly cross her delusional mind was the aching wish that her Servine was wrapped in her arms. 

 

 

First Day of Waiting

 

Her head craned to peek past the wooden frame into the darkness, squinting for any signs of liveliness where the moon had once illuminated but now departed behind the mountains. Internal profanity rung as she saw his form already sitting up upon the bed sheets, his head turned to stare into the ascending night through the window. It had to be her rummaging around in the kitchen that woke him-- oh, she knew she should have waited until the sun actually came up!.. But it was too late now. With her free hand she knocked against the wood to catch his attention. Vallion shot a glance behind him and attempted to discern her form from the inky night before placing his gaze back to somewhere inoffensive. 

"Hey," Panne whispered, forcing herself to take the wayward glance as an invitation to enter. The wind from pressing forward chilled her wet fur, which she had lethargically cleaned and groomed not long ago. The Braixen would settle down near her lover with a tray in her hands, yet not so suffocatingly close on account of his newfound indifference. She cleared the blankets away and set down the foods she struggled to create quietly. "Here, I made you breakfast." 

"Oh. Thanks." He was almost completely dismissive to her presence, but despite the tearing at her tender heart, she was determined to swallow the pain for his sake. 

But the silence was too unbearable. "..I didn't end up waking you up from being in there, did I?" 

The Servine shook his head and hummed before even looking down at what she had prepared. For all the clumsy noise and crestfallen sighs that came from the kitchen, all Panne had managed to bring was a few pieces of toast and a glass of juice. She just didn't have the spirit left to prepare anything even remotely impressive. He spoke up again. "I was already awake by the time you got up. We got here midday yesterday, so I suppose it makes sense that I couldn't get back to sleep. Is that the same reason why you're making breakfast before the sun's even come up?" 

"To be fair, our sleep schedules haven't been the best for the last few days anyway. You'd probably have done the same thing regardless of what happened." She looked away as the tiny fake smile fell from her face, though the dark would have disguised it just as well. She felt like her heavy frown would impose on him if they happened to make eye contact through the lack of light. In the random direction came sight of the sister scarf to the one she wore even now, resting on the night stand like a terrible analogy. "I had a nightmare, is all. And while laying there awake, I realized the chores I'd eventually have to deal with during the day like washing myself and making breakfast. I just figured they were better done sooner rather than later." 

Vallion grunted in acknowledgement before going back to scrutinizing the panels of the floor. If he truly was still the same. then Panne knew all too well the contemplative kind of mood he was caught in, but now she was no longer an exception to it. The only person not rendered to being a complete stranger was himself, and that was the only person he would trust while there was still such a huge gap of information to fill. She could only imagine the kind of chaos that was going through his head when the thing he was most familiar with besides his own name was this dark room. It wasn't even just partial amnesia, but a complete and utter all-encompassing feeling of displacement. Even as a Snivy he still would have had an easier time from having usable arms. 

"Uh. Listen, Val-" 

"Why do you have a Carracosta as a father?" he blurted out, much to the surprise of the candid brewing in her chest. "I mean, you two are an entirely different species by a few more miles than I think is possible. Can that kind of biology even happen?" 

Yeah, that was probably a question she should have expected earlier. "Adoption," she replied. 

"Then what happened to your original parents? Are they still around? 

"I mean, technically I don't have any traditional parents. This body was specifically crafted to be popped into existence independently from a specific point a thousand years ago, back when I was still a Mew. And at that, I suppose Mew doesn't really have anything that too closely follows that definition of parent, either." 

He took on a dumbfounded look, which quickly became skepticism as he tried to process with a stormy mind how any of her explanation could make sense. All these hoops were ones she expected to have to jump through, but there remained the urgent confession resting on her tongue. A quivering had already appeared on the back of her breath and would only strengthen the longer she sat beside him. Before her courage could disappear, she had to force herself to say it. 

"Vallion, look." This morning was spent feeling mostly numbed, but now the raw emotions of yesterday began to rise to the surface like the new scab had been ripped away. "I know you're probably confused and overwhelmed by all this. I know that you... that you barely have any idea who I am anymore. It's just- you can trust us, alright? Everyone in the village knows who you were before. They're all fond of you, and they're worried for you. Especially me." Her hands crossed over her heart, partly to make sincere her promise and partly to suppress the hurt that came with. Now was the time to start making a difference. "Like me or not, I'll do everything in my power to protect you." 

Even after all the heartfelt words she could muster without breaking back down into tears, the Servine hadn't even twitched in response and continued to train his eyes elsewhere. Whether he believed her words or not, his passive silence did not continue on for much longer as he turned back to the tray and attempted to unsheath his vines, grunting with effort as his body swayed strangely in figuring out the muscles involved. It was clear he had no idea how to use them, as it took him three tries to grab the sides of a piece of toast without getting butter all over himself. Then came a stalemate where he was unsure how to safely lift the food into the air towards his mouth. In the end, Vallion huffed and set it down again. 

"Agh, this is probably the hardest part about having a new body," he said, warily testing the range of movement of his new limbs and watching them spasm and falter. "It's so weird, like these things are meant to be controlled where my shoulders are supposed to be. I can't quite grasp what parts do what yet, and my body certainly doesn't recall on its own what to do with these things. It's weird enough that I can smell with my tongue, I didn't expect to have to learn how to use new limbs altogether." 

She tried stowing her emotions and shrugged, which probably was the movement he was trying to utilize. "Yeah, I suppose it took you a while to adjust to being a Snivy, but by the time you were ready to evolve, you were already so used to using your vines as your hands that it wasn't even a problem. I can kinda sympathize with you since my evolution took me from four legs to two. I did have to learn how to run in a completely different way afterwards." 

"This is so weird.." Vallion stared down at his own figure as if it were completely alien. This serpentine form that he once completely understood had only curled up by following what was comfortable, possessing such tiny legs that he quickly had to learn to use in tandem with swerving motion on the long pathway back home yesterday, falling over himself many times in the process and accruing plenty more bruises to go over the ones he already had. "I wasn't born with a body like this, that much should be easy enough to see. If you're someone I can trust, then I should be able to be perfectly honest with you, I'm.. I'm actually a human." 

A flicker of humor bubbled in her chest where melancholy should have been, resulting in three syllables of a giggle before the scene found its grim posture again. "Oh, everyone already knows that. It wasn't exactly something you tried too hard to keep a secret before. It's actually kinda interesting how your name and that fact are always the two things that carry over." 

"Wh-what? But this is a pokemon's body, isn't it? What do you mean they were human?" He seemed attentive now, eyes widened and unswervingly attuned. 

"Mhmm. You've always had the soul of a human. I know it may seem like you're someone else in a body that isn't yours, but when I say that you just lost your memories, that's what I truly mean. You act very much the same to the way you did before, at least in my eyes." 

With even more to cloud his head, the Servine turned away and glared even harder into the nothingness, the infrastructure he had built up until then apparently cracked by the fact. Despite it not quite being her fault that everything turned out this way, the guilt she placed on herself for no reason swelled with purpose. It was a self-inflicted matter of 'what if' that gnawed and ground at her hope while he tried hard to piece together his bearings. What if she was just a little bit quicker on her feet, and could find Vallion earlier into the ritual? What if she was a pinch more clever, just enough to maybe influence a wrong into being a right and building a more decisive victory? And her flames-- what if she made them to burn brighter and as fiercely as her regret now? It was too late for any of that to matter. 

Panne couldn't scan for any imperfections upon the walls in this kind dimness. There was still time to solve the 'what if's of right now, ones of a future where she broke down and tried to force close this horrible new distance between them. The answer was as simple as it was the most difficult: She would bear it for the time being and focus on reminding him of the world he knew in hopes of bringing it back. That was it, there were no branching paths of fate to speak of. It required only that she uphold that promise to herself and give him everything he needed. Panne tried to exhale only through her nose with intention of calming down, but both passages were already blocked by mucus borne of despair. The physical realization made it conspicuous that they both were mulling over themselves not three feet from one another in the dark. 

Vallion saw the distress in her expression as soon as he looked back, the inquiry on his tongue falling away before a single breath of it could be muttered. No, it must have been more than that if the lack of light hadn't obscured it. Did she accidentally make a tiny noise that alerted to her sorry state? Either way, there wasn't any time to make up for the mistake and sit taller before his own back straightened. "I'm sorry I can't remember anything, I really am." The softness of his voice, the blame he intended to take onto himself, and all for the stupid Braixen that couldn't take control of her own emotions. 

The sobs waiting on the bottom of her throat were ignored. She refused to manipulate him like this. "No, no. It's alright. You're not at fault here. Please don't think at all like you are," a crack in her voice gave her away once more, but the aimlessness of her sadness prevented it from being entirely irresistible. The key to fixing this was just to keep her chin up and believe with all her might that everything was fine. Faith and endurance were things she should have very well mastered by now. "I'm just still a little bit in shock, I guess. You don't need to burden yourself with much more than you already have." 

From the window came a faint glow that stood as the sole reason the room was no longer silhouettes and the straining of dilated pupils. First light had finally come to lay its gentle fingers across the land, and they could see one another just a little better in the slight blue. It was clearly going to be a beautiful day, the sky was spotless from the position she was staring up at it from. The optimist inside her, or perhaps just the most stubborn parts, was wholly convinced that a summer day like the one fast approaching was not to be wasted crying beneath a blanket. Vallion was going to need more help than he could know to ask for, and she was the only one fit to deliver it. All she had to do is think like he would, to become that same dependable pillar and be seemingly indestructable. There was no reason to mourn if he was technically right there in front of her, after all. 

"You know," Panne began again, several deep breaths later. "We're probably going to be waiting here a few days while things are sorted elsewhere. I guess you could say that there's kind of a trail to follow that might lead to you getting your memories back, but we personally can't really do anything about it right now. I was thinking we could go to a few important spots around town in the meantime and see if anything will resurface. Does that sound like something you're willing to do? 

It seemed as though he was trying to give a shrug for a brief moment before realizing that the motion was entirely disconnected from his method. He surrendered the attempt and accepted that words would have to suffice. "Alright. But before then, I want to know how I ended up like this. Err, I mean, why I was already like this before waking up in those hills, and specifically what happened for me to get here in the first place. Are there even any other humans in this place?" 

She figured much earlier that a proper explanation was in order. "Of course I'll tell you, but you should probably eat your breakfast first. I know soggy bread isn't really the most appetizing thing to see first thing in the morning, but it's better than the nothing you've had for.. god, two days? I don't know how you're not cringing with hunger by now. Besides, I can't really run through these stories on short notice." 

Rising from her seat onto sleeping legs, she hobbled off towards the exit of the room and continued the whole time to focus on the depth of her breathing. The vibrant dawn which developed illuminated her tiptoed footsteps across the cold floor, more color slowly being added to the day as it bloomed. There was far too much to discuss than she could give credit for. She made maps, she diffused emergencies in dungeons, and it wouldn't be too difficult to explain the last few days and their misery, but a vivid retelling of Dark Matter was more than a challenge to make believable with such little time to do so. For later on in the day, she would take him down to the hill and see if the residual sentimentality soaked into the grass itself would shake something loose. Perhaps it'd be wiser to spend some time bracing herself for that scene, as it surely will stir something in her. 

 

Passing by the same buildings and sights they've seen for years, there was a look of wonder in his eyes as he absorbed the modest urban landscape. It was jarring to think that this was the first time he's gotten a good glimpse of the village without a pane of glass between them. She knew well that ravenous kind of gaze, it meant that he wasn't at all comfortable with his surroundings yet and subconsciously treated its details as he would a forked pathway in a mystery dungeon. At the very least it would further solidify that this was absolutely the same Vallion as before, but his obvious caution did strike another pang of anxiety through her chest. If it came to giving him a tour of the whole town all at once, her composure wouldn't stand a chance. Their hesitant footsteps continued heedlessly down the rutted path until those curious houses were left behind for greenery and gnarled trunks. Finally they came upon the twist in the beaten path and the slope which she had always scaled. 

Panne took solace in the solitude this place offered more than ever. This sweet summer day was only such because she led the charge against the dark force which plunged the valley into an ill stupor, and much of the village that hadn't been present at the epicenter came by constantly to interrupt her story and acknowledge such as well as confirm the rumor of Vallion's lost memory. What should have been pleasant visits were made undeniably sour, the Braixen wanted nothing more but time to be alone with him. The negativity in her thoughts was cut short by a startled gasp as the Servine struggled against the incline as much as his new form. Silence overcame over her mind while helping him dig into the grass and push himself up the final distance. 

At the top was the same view of Serene Village they had cherished together many times before, and with it he slowed his exhalation towards the sudden grandeur. Even the jagged faces of the far-off mountains were highlighted by the plentiful sun-- the town square outstandingly tranquil with the breeze carving tiny waves across the water. Whether he actually felt a connection with the place or was simply overcome with awe had yet to be determined, only that her own emotions were being rubbed raw at the sight. It felt as though she were visiting to mourn a recent tragedy more than anything. Try as she might to make light of their situation, that's exactly what it was. 

"This was- IS, our special place," the Braixen spoke up without looking away from the vista's glory. "It used to only be mine once, but I eventually did start sharing it with you all those years ago. I mean, most of the village comes up here sometimes to think and unwind, but that never stopped me from making it special." She looked towards him in the pause, and still he was reduced to speechlessness. "It's something that's so well ingrained into my memory that I could probably paint a picture of it two continents away. You happening to get any deja vu from being up here?" 

The jaw which was unhinged Vallion finally forced shut, and he blinked several times in contemplation. "Mmm. I don't.. I don't really think so. Nothing feels any different." It took several more moments of the view from him to gather a definite answer. "No. It really is beautiful up here, and this is the most calming place I've been to yet, but it's a completely new experience in every way. I'm sorry." 

She couldn't say it wasn't something already expected. This wasn't anywhere near the definition of traditional amnesia, and this hill, while significant, was pretty far from the kind of spiritual aura they probably needed. Shoulders slumped, Panne wandered over to the tree's rugged trunk and slid down to a sitting position against it. "Oh well. It was worth a shot, I suppose. We've still got plenty of places to try. And besides, to experience this place again for the first time must be breathtaking." But it was the memories and struggles that made it sacred in the first place. Without them, it was just another scenic point to ponder over for a brief moment before continuing on with the day. Having traveled the world and made it her business to see places nobody else has, these gorgeous views were as countless as they were irrelevant, but there has only ever been one of here. To forget what life-changing things tied him to this single spot in the universe was a terrible fate indeed. 

Having had his fill of gawking standing up, the Servine settled into the grass beneath him and wordlessly looked out over the world he had forgotten. The wide-eyed expression written on his face sunk back into the reserved scrutiny it had been before. He'd been given an inkling that this was a seat he should have cherished dearly, and surely there came a confused flurry of thoughts as to why only indifference remained. The feeling of loss was inescapable. It sank into the dirt that had once been fertilized with their trust and love, the roots of grasses drank it up and waved sadly in the wind at the arrival of a stranger. Every little moment they've ever had together on this hill was now only hers alone, and that did nothing to heal the befouled mood she smothered with duty. 

There echoed footsteps in the distance, a quadruped by the trotting pattern they stepped in going along the path. The arrival of Sawsbuck would prove to be graciously distracting from herself. The grass type glanced up from the base of the slope, catching a peek of the tops of their heads. "I thought I saw you guys heading towards this place," she shouted up at them before making quick work of the angle herself, looking first towards the furtive Servine and delivering a warm smile. "Hey, Vallion. Good to see you're up and about after that horrible hike yesterday. Did you manage to get any of your memories back yet?" To the responding frown and shaking head she gave a look of concern. 

"Hi," was the brief utterance Panne made, for her lungs drew shallow gulps as to avoid obnoxiously sighing and expressing herself too much. 

That concern was soon redirected back towards her. "Ah, Panne. Could you come over here a minute?" Sawsbuck beckoned with a movement of their head and started back down the hill. Vallion's stare did not flinch from the overlook as she pushed to a stand and followed down the side, steeling herself for the conversation that warranted being pulled away at all. One last glance at the back of the Servine's head and she slid the full way down to her friend's level. 

The breeze was overspoken by Sawsbuck's whisper. "I just wanted to check and make sure everything was okay, since yesterday we were all too tired to do anything but crash. How are the both of you holding up?" 

She let loose a lungful of air through her nose. It was more a question of how long she could bite her tongue rather than how she was. "He's confused and overwhelmed, mostly. I tried to tell him about Dark Matter and the kinds of things that happened for us to get here, but it was all too unbelievable for him to buy. Even having been there myself, I don't blame him. So now he's skeptic about the only explanation I can offer, and even if he did fully take it onto himself, it's all far too convoluted and probably pushes him farther away from understanding how things came to be than when we started talking about it. I don't actually know how much trust he puts in me anymore." Her arms crossed, not in a defensive manner to keep others out, but reservedly to keep herself contained. 

"Don't worry about it. He has no reason not to trust you with how much time you're spending helping him. And if he really ends up not believing what happened eight years ago, you could just have someone else give their side. Nearly everyone in town remembers a lot about that whole business. It was a pretty big deal." Sawsbuck's eyes panned up to the hill for a brief moment before continuing, probably checking if Vallion was listening in. "Have you called the Society yet? They might know something that could help him start remembering things." 

"It's the very first thing I did. We're, uh.. It's going to be a few days before we get any news, anyway. I'm just supposed to keep watch over him and make sure he doesn't get too strung out or into any trouble. I've been trying to acclimate him as best I can, and for the most part that's all been workable, but.." Panne felt her stare gravitate towards the ground. "It's not an easy thing to hold back. He's my Val, alright, but still miles from what he's supposed to be. I slept two rooms away because I didn't think I'd be able to handle constantly thinking about it." 

"Oh geez, that sounds awful!" the grass type could hardly keep her voice down. "Are you sure you don't need any help? I could always take him to my house for a night while you get your wits back, maybe tell him about village history or something. And there's plenty others I'm sure who would want to help out after all you've two have done for us. I don't see why they wouldn't, especially with the recent crisis you stopped." 

Adamant, Panne shook her head and continued to flex the emotional muscle she had already been straining. "I'd prefer if it was just the two of us still, but thank you for trying. There's a lot going through his head and it's only going to get more complicated as time goes on, it's probably best we don't add more faces into that mix before he's got a good grasp on the now." She just wanted him to herself. Even if they simply wanted to help, it irritated her every time someone wanted to get in between and know what was going on. This was supposed to be their trial to conquer. 

"Mmmn.. I suppose so. But it doesn't have to only be your burden to bear, we're all here for you even though the nightmares stopped. He's our friend, too, and-" The uneven shuffling of awkward footsteps broke their conversation apart. Vallion struggled to scale the last few feet of the hill, yet managed to reach the bottom of the hill intact and without falling. The both of them waiting for him to speak, equally eager. 

"Hey, I'm going to head back to the house now. I'm starting to get thirsty." He turned to the Sawsbuck and bowed his head. "It was nice to meet you again, especially without having to wander around in the hills." He wasted no time picking up his pace on the path back into town alone, apparently more than confident in his knowledge of the small town. The Braixen was immediately stricken with anxiety upon watching him disappear behind the thicket and out of sight. Could he have been listening in to their talking the whole time? Was she really being that loud? 

Beside her was a pokemon fixated on his departure just the same, the grass type muttering to herself the polite, harmless words that had been directed towards her. "Nice to.. meet you?.. Oh. He really has no idea who I am." The silence was filled with the breeze blowing against their ears. What short optimism Sawsbuck had mustered seemed to fall short after feeling the impact of how ruined things had truly become. "Panne, are you absolutely sure you don't need any help at all? Even just for me, that felt like it was much harsher than he meant it to be. I can see you're doing okay right now, but it's not going to stop me from worrying anyway." 

But her mind was made up, no matter how much it hurt, "I don't need someone else to start worrying about me, too. This is nothing compared to some of the worse things I've dealt with over the years. And besides, what kind of friend would I be if I couldn't handle being there for him now? If I love him more than anything else, shouldn't that allow me to hold my word whether he knows and acknowledges it or not? I just need to prove myself to him until he begins to remember." the breathiness in her voice gave her away again, but it was worthless to argue. 

"This isn't some grand test of love! This is a real problem with the very real and excusable possibility to ask for help. You're only mortal, no matter what you've done in the past, or how many people can recognize your name. You could ask anyone in the village that and they'll agree, because they know you. Topple as many legends and make as many maps as you want, you're a Braixen who's scared of ghosts and losing her beloved," Sawsbuck's resolute tone gave way to a defeated huff that blended in with the wind. "Sorry, I'm just getting heated over nothing. Please don't forget that other people care and start bottling things up until they burst. It's arrogant and stupid." 

And then Panne was left all to herself in the small clearing just before the southern woods. The breath that she finally ceased holding in was the same that allowed her to feign bravery for so long, and she subsequently fell backwards onto the base of the hill to stare up diagonally into the sky. The grass itched at her back and stuck up into her ears as warmth rained down overtop of her. It wasn't supposed to be this way. She came to this hill on the off-chance that it would grant the either of them some clarity as to what to do, and maybe it might have bolstered her defenses to the pathological yearning she felt. She instead managed to turn away her friend on the insistence that she was stronger and caused even more stress for the person she was trying to minimize it for. This technically was like bringing him here for the first time again, and she was the one who ruined it. 

The Braixen had the urge to strike herself with all her might, to beat her legs and chest and stomach without the slightest reservation. She deserved it for inflicting hurt upon him, more so than any incomprehensible darkness or ancient evil. The pain would have been a plenty worthy cost for letting herself slip like that. To be stuck in an absolutely unfamiliar environment with no knowledge of almost literally anything-- how could she be so inconsiderate? But all that was cowardly, wasn't it? If she truly deserved to feel awful in return, physical pain would only detract from the lesson. 

So Panne took that anger and lashed out with two underhanded fists against the hard ground. And once more, feeling the reverberations of that fury towards herself be diffused into the dirt. Beneath the most pristine summer sky anyone could ever ask for, she broke down into tears. 

 

 

Second Day of Waiting

 

The sheer silence of the morning gave her nowhere to hide from her tormented thoughts, her hands being the only thing able to work on autopilot without faltering. Turning back around with a filled bowl of oatmeal, she noticed that the rising sun's angle had touched its bright presence to the plate she was just about to prepare, reaching over the dormant exploration gadget in the center of the table. The nagging in her head of whether she was too late or early was drowned out by the repeat twisting motion to grab the oran berries off the counter behind. Finished, it was hardly anything too much more impressive than what she made yesterday, but it at least took just a pinch more time and effort to make. Her train of thought was that, maybe if there was a little more energy spent on preparing unfailable tasks like this, she'd feel a little better about herself in the end. Staring at the sun-touched meal, the Braixen felt no different than how she did after waking up. 

That monotony was broken very quickly upon hearing a shuffling, looking up and seeing the Servine sluggishly emerging from within their room. Just as she was about to prepare the tray as well. "O-oh. You're up earlier than I thought. Is something wrong?" 

He shook his head and sat down at the edge of the table, curling his tail awkwardly for a moment before readjusting. "It's the sleep schedule still. You didn't wake me at all." Hurriedly Panne brought forth the plate and bowl to where he sat, unsure of whether to take his words as anything more than a kind white lie. The dishes clattered together against the all-encompassing quiet despite how carefully they were placed down. After realizing she was holding her breath the whole time, the Braixen muffled her sharp inhalation as he spoke up once more. "Do you ever eat breakfast at the same time as you make it for me? I've never seen you eat anything besides dinner." 

"I.. yeah. That's just a bad habit of mine." She sat down opposite to him and leaned on her elbows as she mentally lashed herself for being so tense. "When I get stressed out, I start to eat less and get less hungry in general. That makes people start to worry more, which in turn stresses me out even more. It's just a stupid thing I do." 

A vine listlessly played with the spoon's handle despite the look of concentration on his face. Oh dammit, she hadn't even thought of how dextrous he needed to be just to use something like a utensil in the first place. The best he could manage to do was balance the thing amidst a loose spiral and place it back down into the oatmeal's bowl while she bit her tongue just carefully enough not to draw blood. "Ah. That was almost something, I suppose." Seemingly satisfied with the attempt, he looked back up. "Do you become introvertive when you get stressed out, too?" 

Panne tilted her head. "I.. I guess so? I probably get a lot more quiet and grumbly when under pressure, but that just sounds like normal stuff people do while stressed out. Why?" 

"After you got back from the hill yesterday, you started avoiding me and staring off into the distance. I was just wondering if it was something I did wrong is all." 

Not even the control she had ushered over her own feelings could silence the choke that rose from her throat. He was going to start taking blame that wasn't his again, all because she couldn't stop overreacting at every little thing. A slight sigh came next that did little to convey the fury she had towards herself. "Please, don't worry yourself with any of that. I'm just too stubborn and strung-out right now, I've been feeling all over the place these last few days. You really should be focusing on yourself right now. It's important that you get accustomed with things you used to be familiar with. It'll probably help with your amnesia in the long run, maybe even allow you to start digging thing up now." 

"Hmm. Alright." In the space between his words and the emptiness of morning was the same blank stare she had resorted to whenever things got hectic in her chest. Of course it was obvious, she hadn't at all been trying hard enough to make her feelings inconspicuous. It was a notion completely forgotten underneath the repeated internal chanting to keep calm and stable. Of course he had noticed, it probably looked like she was upset with him the whole time. Stupid, stupid Panne. This was going to end up doing more damage than if she simply collapsed into a blubbering mess onto him. But what if she buried her love somewhere in the ground to keep from it getting in the way and forgot where it was once he finally remembered their connection? God dammit, why was this so hard!? 

A despondent murmur from the Servine forced her from where her mind thundered and stormed to the quiet table once more. Finally had he managed to take a spoonful of the oatmeal to his mouth, and with the way his expression furrowed, it seemed he shared much the same opinion for the stuff as he did before. "Ooh. I mean you no offense when I say this, but- uh, I don't think I really like oatmeal much." 

"That's why there's the fruit," she pointed out. "You've always had to mix them in so that they would diffuse the flavor and the way it feels, so I just assumed you would had the same taste buds and prepared it like you would have wanted. I didn't really think much of it, I guess." 

He did as was recommended by his past self, and in the following bite and moment of judgement, a hum of approval came where before was a growl of mild disgust. "So it does work, then. And it makes the texture more bearable." With another attempt came a similar contentment up until he had swallowed. At least she was still useful in preparing meals for him. It wasn't much, but still miles ahead of being someone who only for pouts in the corner. Vallion continued on through her introspection. "That's really interesting, actually. What other foods did I like before the weird soul thing happened? They might have carried over if this specific taste worked out." 

"Oh! Um.." That wasn't quite a bank of information she expected to have to open anytime soon. "One of your favorite things are sitrus berries. That's not really anything too special, most everyone likes those. You... kinda liked almonds, I think? It was the only kind of nuts you'd get excited about if the Kecleon had any in stock, anyway. There's also a lot of ice cream flavors you really like, but milk's kind of an expensive resource outside of major cities, so we can't really get any for you to try while waiting here in the village." 

There came the silence again, a common occurrence at this surprisingly tense breakfast table while they discussed the proper techniques of eating oatmeal. For a fraction of a minute longer Vallion played with his spoon while his eyes looked elsewhere before speaking up again. "Okay. So what kind of food do you like, then?" Her ears perked forward with the rest of her shattered gaze, to which the Servine chucked. "Hey, you said I had to learn about things I used to be familiar with to help get my memory back. Aren't you supposed to be on top of that list?" 

It felt strange to blush bashfully at someone she had once been closer to than anyone else in the world. "I suppose, uh. My absolute favorite thing to eat ever is probably passho berry pie, but the berries themselves are pretty hard to find. We could only ever get our hands on them after heading to some of the nastier parts of this continent, and they're pretty much only found around here to begin with. Annoying to grow as well, I've heard. The closest place we could get any is some secluded grove we barely know of in the middle of the mountains to the east." 

"Are we going to go there?" 

"H-heavens, no!" Panne sat up from leaning against an elbow, the conversation enthralling enough to lift some of the weight from her mind and shoulders. "That place is far enough off the beaten path that it'd take at least a day to get to, let alone come back from. We're waiting for a call that could technically come at any moment between this instant and a week from now. And not to hound on the kind of things you can and can't do, but you wouldn't happen to remember any of the basics of adventuring, do you? It wasn't exactly easy for us even in our prime to find the way around the right cliffs to get there." 

He looked down at his figure beneath the table and wore a frown. "Ah, right. I guess I don't remember anything about how to survive in the wilderness, or any of the environments that are around here for that matter. That was something I knew before, right? I can't imagine any of your story being true if we weren't at least somewhat competent at survival." 

"It was kind of our whole thing, to be honest. We only just recently completed a map of all the world's surface, and that thing took us to all kinds of horrible places where no life could survive. It's probably actually a good thing you can't recall some of the nastier ones, and the more grim adventures you'd rather not have been on." The last thing she needed was for him to start having vivid flashbacks about being inside a volcano and nearly burning to death at every turn. They had no idea the kind of influence stress would have on his recovery. "Don't worry about it. There's still plenty of places in walking distance that we can try." 

Permitting his vines to make the shrugging motion he needed, Vallion went back to diluting his oatmeal with copious amounts of fruit and trudging through breakfast. There was still only a twinge of hunger in her gut, as the rest of her insides were churning away trying to figure out whether they were meant to be hollow and cold or not. He was eating and in generally high spirits, there wasn't really anything putting overwhelming pressure on him, and most important of all, he was speaking to her. It was miles better than his contemplative silence and her own stupid conflicts. But if all seemed well, then why did still seem like she was supposed to feel terrible? 

The light which had once only touched the table had been traveling through the room this whole chat, steadily growing brighter as time went on. Pops should probably be waking up soon, and she'd have to whip up another meal on top of a reluctant dish just to gnaw through despite not having any hunger to sate. Anything to hopefully improve upon the train wreck that was yesterday. She needed to force herself to understand that this Vallion did not know the eight years of love and dependence, she was no more a part of him now than the waking birds outside. The sooner that was accomplished, the less would be getting in the way of finding that path again, the sooner she would get her lover back. 

 

A bombardment of warmth soaked into her fur and spread quickly the parts of her still in the shade, sinking pleasantly deeper into the muscles which were still recovering from the over-exertions of two days past. Upon his first step, Vallion met with that same wall of heat as he exited the house last. The air alone couldn't carry this much of the sunlight's blessing through the cracks of windows. His eyes squinted up towards the blue and stayed there, as if to search for some deeper meaning that was obscured to him now. She could only stare from the corner of her eye and wonder if there truly was something to find at all. Once adequately accustomed to the bright outside, he motioned for her to take the lead, and they were off. 

They spoke to one another very little while moving, similar to how they would act when traversing a dangerous cave rather than the homely village they grew up in. Panne could only assume it was because he wasn't entirely comfortable with the outside yet despite seemingly knowing the layout, or maybe it was simply due to the distance already present between them. It was quite understandable, and she didn't blame him for maintaining that quiet demeanor even after the deeds she had been trying and probably failing to perform. It was a temporary pain at best, something to endure so that all might be well again eventually. Still, it didn't stop it from hurting entirely. Just enough that she was able to ignore it. 

In the road soon before the southern exit of town-- the direction which she was heading to arrive at their next significant sight-- stood the chatting pair of Sliggoo and Pangoro. On any other day she would have been delighted to see them, but now she wanted nothing more than to purse her lips and give them a wide enough berth to avoid conversation. Yet a wide berth from here would mean literally going the full way around the village and wading through a river. 

Having been facing inward in the first place, Pangoro was the first to notice their approach and wave. "Hey, there you guys are! It's like you haven't even left your house since you got back," he said, halting them with the robust form he hadn't quite gotten used to yet. "And I thought Meowstic was supposed to be the shut-in. Did you start to remember anything, Vallion?" 

The Servine shook his head. "No, I haven't. Everything is still as new as it can be." 

Sliggoo gave a frown towards him. "Aw, that's terrible. I hope you can get them back soon. I sorta miss having you around in the same way as before. There was a different kind of aura in the air whenever you were out." 

But Pangoro, true to his nature, grew the smirk of a trickster just as soon as anyone else would become downtrodden. "Well that's quite a shame. If you'd like, and haven't already been filled in, I could probably give you a few snippets of the past, eh?" he said before stepping forth and placing an exaggerated hand upon his own chest. "You see, we go waaay back. You and I used to be the best of friends, the kings of the school they used to call us. Of course I was always the kindly monarch, you know. Sometimes you'd even have fits of power where you'd try to shoot a poor squishy Goomy out of a cannon for messing with you, and I'd have to hurry to stop it all from going down. Isn't that right-" 

"That's enough Pangoro," the Braixen spoke over him, her fists clenching and arms extending fully down her side on their own. It was irresponsible of him to be manipulating Val like this. 

"Whatever do you mean?" he replied, pretending to look aghast. "Why, we couldn't have been closer friends if you glued us together and tied us up with rope! And he would praise me for being so thoughtful and intelligent all the time, after all the hijinks he'd get into with the cookie mafia that is. His rule would eventually lead to the great chocolate chip prohibition, so it was my duty to-" 

"Enough!" Panne intervened between the dark type and Vallion, each step subconsciously made into a stomp of intimidation. "It's not funny to take advantage of him like that! This is a serious thing, and telling him outright lies like that is.. it's just stupid! What does your dumb attempt at humor have to do with anything? You shouldn't be wasting your time trying to mislead him for a quick laugh when he's in such a malleable state!" 

The smirk had fallen away, and in its place Pangoro glared with furrowed brows at her. "I don't know, maybe it was the sarcastic tone, or the stupid winks that indicated I couldn't possibly have been serious, or the fact that it was all absurd to begin with? It's a joke, Panne. People who understand how to say words can understand what a joke is... And you didn't even let me get to the punch line of it all." 

"No, I get it." The Servine started heading around the conversation, seemingly the most eager of them all to move on. "No harm, no foul. It was nice to see you two again. Come on, Panne, we should get going." 

Quickly after his leave, Panne scurried off to keep up with the person she was meant to be escorting, but not before exchanging a final glance with her friends. The rage that was roused had faded entirely in the wake of Pangoro's surprised disdain and Sliggoo's simple fear. Clutching at her chest, she hurried ahead of Vallion and sped towards the exit of town. Self-deprecation replaced where agitation had once tore through her body and controlled its limbs. She very well had the mind to turn around and apologize for her outburst, but they already passed the barrow by then. The indecision of twisting back around and mending what was wounded-- that gravity which pulled her backwards had no effect on the purpose of her legs as they both marched away on their own, and that stupid choice had been solidified. It would have at least been difficult for Val to hear her mutter angrily to herself from in front. 

Independent of the needless anguish she inflicted upon herself, they would come upon the southern forest and its greenery once more. A mild dungeon at worst, the most challenging thing they would come across was the slippery dew still resting on most of the leaves from the shade the canopy provided. But as they pressed off the path and into those mild woods, not even the brilliant emerald gradients and calm sounds could distract her from this unending sour mood. Yet she should swallow it whole and allow it to twist her gut into knots while guiding the Servine through trifling patches of ferns and tall brush. It was useless to obsess over this when there was a much greater purpose at hand. But- but had she insulted him by taking a stand against Pangoro like that, made him seem less stable or strong than he really was? She was so angry, but.. Agh, stop! There was no reason to babysit him and be just as overbearing as she was trying to prevent. 

Just had to focus on the destination, that was all. The one she had in mind wasn't at all too difficult to find among the forest, and was pretty shallow in considering how far they could feasibly go. Such a place she had checked twice over while searching for the lost kids a few days ago. The tiny glade they were pressing towards was absolutely a point of interest for the buried personality within Vallion, as he was the one to show her it in the first place. Though if their hill had next to no effect, what hope was there in this place being any different? That was a question they had no choice but to answer in the coming minutes. 

Very little daylight had to be burned before the landscape began to rise and fall in a familiar pattern. It wouldn't be long before the bright sun bounced up from the bare ground, the contrast peering right past the next few trees and highlighting the end of the short journey. The sound of running water melded into their rustling as they burst into the open and felt the summer's indiscriminate grace immediately bear down on them. The humidity misting from nearby hadn't helped much in that fact. "Alright, we're here." 

"Okay?... where is here?" he said in the midst of scanning the clearing, head low to shield his eyes from the intense light above. 

"Here, is where you first woke up in this world. At least, it was the last time your mind had been reset in the body of a Snivy. It's all vague and confusing on purpose, you can blame our past-est selves for that." She strolled over to where the crooked pond had once rippled, which had been transformed by time into a collection of mossy growths and a trickling stream swerving into the nearby woods. There was visible erosion where the edge of the pool had once held within itself the waters that snaked their way thus far into the mystery dungeon. "You've shown me this place before. I thought it might be symbolic enough that something stuck inside you would rise to the surface, or that maybe there was something explicitly spiritual about this exact spot." 

He stepped to her side and stared down at himself in the stream, supposedly the same one he had so long ago and caught the very first glimpse of the body he had been shoved into. His distorted reflection and the glare of the sun just beside it bounced and flickered from the speed of the running water. With a tireless level of intensity he examined himself, raising a vine to gently touch the contours of his face and confirm that it was indeed the image he saw. Neither Vallion in the flesh nor in the water could speak the legacy of the physical form they inhabited, but those curious eyes worked as best they could at those mysteries while she could do nothing more but watch. 

Some conclusion had been reached somewhere in his head after an adequate amount of time had passed. He sighed, taking a stand once more and looking back at the unimpressive glade they stood within. It was like he was trying to reach out and find the version of himself that knew this place as more than just that. Both times they had come here, Servine or Snivy, they were clueless to the world around them and confined to a foreign body meant for a pokemon and not themselves. Perhaps he was beginning to understand more than that? In the end, he would only shake his head. "Nothing." 

"Ah. Well, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?" She was running out of places to bring him, as well as confidence that this was something that could be cured with time and example alone. Panne could nearly stifle her own exasperated breath, but he had chosen to speak up again just before. 

"Nothing, but it does help a little. Not in a way that earns my memories back, but just in helping me get a grip on who I was before this recent accident. It's comforting to be in the same place I once was and knowing that my exact same feelings of fear and unease aren't the only ones that existed. Does that make sense? It feels more meaningful than the hill did, at least." Vallion turned to her and, for a fraction of a moment, shot her a tiny smile like he used to. "I'm glad you brought me here, thank you." 

The happiness which radiated about her torso from what she heard was immediately met with confliction, the surge so powerful that there was no way it wasn't ill-placed and premature. Panne did her best to hide the smile that came with the sprawling satisfaction as they motioned to depart the clearing in the direction they came. Such a small glimmer of reinforcement shined miles more than was needed, so much that it felt like blatant indulgence when compared with the part of her she made stoic and strong. Something in the corner of her mind told her everything would crumble and fall apart should she accept this token too close to her heart. But still, it was such a wonderful feeling. 

Traveling in the reverse, they came across a fallen log that was simple enough to hop over the first time, but hung from a cliff on this side and provided a much steeper height. She was given the task of helping him up and over despite the vines which he would have normally used to make up for the distance. After getting over by herself and continuing on, the Braixen surrendered that this small victory was too much to ignore entirely. It was almost as if she's already forged a friendship again, it was such a genuine look he gave her. In fact, it was impossible to stop thinking about. The tug and pull between thinking that feeling nothing was synonymous with strength and wanting to give in and take him into an embrace was something horribly easily to obsess over. At least she knew now not to seem forcefully distant again, this joy was just as valid to submerge and subdue as the misery. 

 

 

The Night Between

 

The dream had been torn away suddenly, and her cruel imagination was replaced by the back of her eyelids. Once half open, the sideways room didn't prove to be much brighter. It took the Braixen a few seconds still to realize she was no longer asleep before shutting her eyes again and shuffling about within the sheets. Her father's rumbling snore echoed to the point that the vibrations were tangible on the bed, the most likely thing to have woken her from the nightmare that had already slipped away. While hesitant to return to sleep for fear of that ambiguously unpleasant dream being revived, she assumed it was inevitable. In the room's corners and beneath tight places she couldn't see was the possibility of something that had followed her since Spiritomb. No, it was surely there, bent on torturing her and slinking away once the day came. Three nightmares in a row was definitely not something that was normal. Unless it was actually just her own mind that had grown too wary for its own good. Either way, the dream was far less terrifying than what could have been, and there wasn't exactly an alternative to bearing it and getting that lackluster sleep. Wasn't really worth worrying about... 

A shiver took control of her spine and rushed down into her tail, the sensation ripping her eyes open again to scan the dark. It was completely unwarranted, she was burning up far too much beneath all these covers for there to be a crack letting in cold air. The residual haunting she assumed was there had never done that before. This whole week was filled with the tense searching for these kinds of nuances, how could it be an unrelated event after all that's happened? Panne sat up on the bed and turned her head towards the exit, feeling her heart began to pick up where the dream had left off. There was no telling what was going on just beyond the veil of her perception, or what kind of malicious things followed them back from that cave. It- It couldn't hurt to check, right? 

From the sheets she pivoted, touched the pads of her feet to the hard floor and expected the rush of cold. Not even a summer as prosperous as this could match the sheer heat of a fire type straight from a nightmare. Once she adjusted to the chill, the Braixen took a wobbly stand and started towards the hall, her gentle tapping steps obscured by the cacophony that was Pops' snore. From one darkness to another she pressed on, arms wrapped tightly around herself to preserve at least some of the draining comfort. Another convulsion caused her back to seize up, forcing her to halt in the middle of the room with her all her fur standing at attention. She hated doing things like this, it was always impossible to tell whether the spooky feeling was just her body pouting and screaming against the abandoning of a warm bed. 

Glancing at the time, Panne confirmed it was quite a few hours too early to hope for the sunrise. If the warmth in the atmosphere really did drain into the open sky, then it wouldn't be returning for a long while from now. Thinking on it, this was an abnormally close temperature to what a winter night would feel like. There came the brief thought to sit down at the table and wait for something to happen. Not that she necessarily wanted to keep herself awake for much longer, but the air did feel somewhat charged in addition to being disconcertingly cold. There wasn't a particle of dust out of place and she still felt that something was amiss. Not a good thing to be certain of in the middle of the night. 

Paranoia first and foremost dragged her over to glance into her old room and make sure that a shadow figure wasn't currently looming over Vallion. What seemed most off about the scene she stumbled upon was not that her fears were true, but that she could hardly even see into the room at all. The dark was especially potent, not to the point of being a black wall but plenty enough to assume that the window had been covered up so that the moon was obscured. But she could easily tell from looking farther in that the window was completely uncovered, its sill lit up just the same as it should have the wall facing it. Dread sunk into her stomach with enough warrant that the Braixen snapped her fingers and conjured a spark of flame at the tip of her thumb. She gasped and held her breath. 

The dimness she was trying to peer through revealed itself to be smoke just as soon as light had touched it. The spark became a full flame in the palm of her hand from fright alone, and the mist did thicken and obscure in response to the brighter source. She knew what it was, its impression it left in the air far too heavy to be mistaken. Apprehension was overridden by a surge of her protective nature, Panne plunged into the smoke and formed a burning claw with her hand. She grabbed at where the center of the room should have been and thrust her pyrokinetic will over the space, and from that point emerged both combustion and a furious shout of her own. The orange light tore through the mist and created a clear pocket where it could not reform, the cold trying and failing to reclaim where her heat had occupied. Another broad sweep of fire heedless of the environment convinced the entity to dissipate entirely. What remained a moment after was a moonlit room filled with dry and hollow air. 

Her wild eyes faded as they turned to check on the Servine stirring restlessly on the floor. After she rushed to his side and kneeled so quickly that the floor bruised her legs, Vallion awakened with a sharp gasp and a look of terror. His first waking sight was the concerned Braixen suddenly at his side, then the seemingly average darkness associated with the middle of the night, then to himself as if there was meant to be a knife sticking out of his chest, and then finally back to her. 

"Wha- Panne? What's going on? Do- do I smell smoke?" 

"Val, are you alright!?" her desperation engulfed his confusion, enough for him to double check to see if there was a huge gash across his torso. 

After having determined once more that he wasn't bleeding out on the ground, Vallion answered her eagerness. "I.. I guess so? Look, what's going on right now? Is there an emergency?" 

"This sure as hell could count as one, anyway," the Braixen said as she exhaled a great deal of tension through her nose and settled down onto her haunches. The danger had passed for now, that much was at least certain. But it was doubtful that this omen didn't mean they weren't going to see plenty of spiritual nonsense in the future. "Listen, you were probably having a nightmare just a moment ago. Can you remember anything about it? 

Then came a moment of concentration as he hurriedly tried to gather up the shattered remains of the cloud's manipulation. It passed with his groan. "How did you know?.. Well I was having one, but I can't at all recall anything about it. The whole thing's gone blank in my head." He sniffed at the air. "Okay seriously, why do I keep smelling smoke and should I be concerned that something is burning down?" 

The corners of the room looked to be clear of any traces of the presence, and as her pupils recovered from being bombarded with too much light from sheer darkness, this room was probably the brightest in the entire house now. From the moon, that is. She apparently hadn't lit anything on fire after such a brash display of power. A sigh of relief had been earned for the time being. "No, I'd worry more about any weird shivers you get. Or if you ever inexplicably feel like something's watching you." Adrenaline pumped to her fingertips regardless of the fatigue in her eyelids. Sleep probably wasn't easily going to be achieved again, for more than just the emergency energy that was forced to pump through her veins. "You don't happen to feel sick right now, do you? Like you have a head cold or something?" 

"I don't know, kinda? Probably not much more than usual in the morning. Now what the hell is going on? What are you even doing in here? It's way too early for this kind of thing." It was obvious to tell that his body was not at all finished with the task of sleeping, as his head already began to droop lower despite the tone of his voice. Guess she couldn't really expect a creature like this to attack at a convenient hour. 

"Okay," she began, exasperated. "So that thing a few days ago that ended up wiping your memories is probably back. Well, It's hard to say we could have made it gone so easily to begin with, but it's actively trying to mess with you again and that's what matters" Her following explanation of why she burst into the room screaming and shooting fire was brief, but with the panic actively deteriorating, even that seemed too much for him to keep honed in on. It didn't even seem like he was fazed by the prospect of something looming over him and infecting his dreams. 

His expression was indifferent at best, but that was probably due to the time of day more than anything. "Well what's it expect to do now? Erase a whole half a week of memories and strike an evil laugh? It really doesn't seem like there's any purpose to it still being here." Following the end of his words was a yawn, which quickly spread to her and kept up the pressure on her waking consciousness. 

"If we had lost completely before, it would have stolen your soul instead. I'd rather not tempt fate and assume it can't do at least something damaging from the position it's in." Dangerous as this appearance seemed, this certainly wasn't the place to be flailing about and shooting live flames into wooden corners in the first quarter of summer. And nothing seemed to have gone awry after all, no doubt because it was still weakened from the battle it lost. While she was successful in stopping whatever it was the Spiritomb was doing, that didn't mean it couldn't happen again, and she couldn't depend on whatever internal device roused her from sleep moments ago. "Hey.. is it, um. Is it alright if I stayed in here? To make sure the Spiritomb can't get at you alone. Honest, I just don't want you to get hurt again. It doesn't have anything to do-" 

"It's your house," he began, interrupting the awkward stream that was about to pour from her tongue. "-You should do whatever it is you feel right. If I really am that susceptible to this kind of stuff, then maybe I do need the extra protection. Either way, I'm not going to let myself lose any sleep over it." Falling backwards into the bedding once more, Vallion surrendered much more willingly to the urges of the night than she would have. Maybe knowing less allowed him to feel more reckless, like there was hardly anything to lose? 

Her last halfhearted scrutiny of the nooks and crannys spanning around gave no hint of lingering evil, and she found herself leaning back in the same way as him. The Braixen promised to herself that she only wanted to stay here to keep him safe. While the cause was pure, a vocal part of her refused to believe that it wasn't intoxicating the lay beside him so closely. It was only a few inches between them at most. If she were thoughtless and brave enough to make a move, it wouldn't take much more than a twitch of her arm to feel his skin again. Just hearing his breathing slow down was enough to make her yearn for another night in his company. But it was all so stupid and out of reach, it involved more than just reaching out to touch him. She shouldn't even have been having these thoughts to begin with. 

Slumber was quick to try and retake her body now that everything had settled down and heat began to return to the house. Not even the love she was disallowed to have was enough to sway her consciousness towards wakeful misery in the end. When their ethereal enemy would return was information as closely guarded as the ritual it had first tried to perform, but even if it was ten minutes from now, Panne felt all the adrenaline in her blood cease to be if only to gather up the short duration of sleep between now and then. There was no way it could get to him without waking her up, anyway. Not with the response she had two rooms away. She wouldn't let anything touch him ever again. 

 

 

Third Day of Waiting

 

With this awakening came no supernatural chill or bodily reaction, there wasn't even a dream to have been stirred from. Panne opened her eyes from the empty few hours of time to find the pleasantly colored glow of sunrise had taken complete control over the room. There was no need to search if anything vile had taken residence with them, for the radiance of it was far too calming and natural. Rolling her head to the side revealed that she was even more alone than that, Vallion having already been absent from his indented spot in the covers. She could blame the sudden activity in the middle of the night, but she probably slept in because it was simply more comfortable in her own room than in her father's. Quieter, too, and with her lover safe nearby on top of it all. A stretch gave way to an attempt at sitting up, which more quickly turned into a trifling stand. 

Carracosta seemed to have taken her stead in the preparation of breakfast, likely wasting no time in pursuing the meal himself if she wasn't there to do so first. He and Vallion sat at the central table with an impressive buffet compared to what she would have probably mustered up. It was something she would have tried to beat herself up over, but was ultimately glancing against the iron of her grogginess. They were chatting away about something somewhat serious when she had officially arrived into the room, adjusting the scarf around her neck back into a comfortable position. 

"Ugh.. What time is it?" she muttered, still working at some popping in her joints. "Is it too late to check out the school before the bell rings? I was going to show Vallion around there while we still had time." 

"Well good morning to you too, sweetheart. Are you too busy on your own vacation to join us for breakfast?" her father mused before taking a bite out of some type of roll she couldn't identify from afar. The Carracosta looked up to decipher the hands of the clock and subsequently huffed through his nose. "I suppose if you're sticking to that plan, you two ought to start hurrying along, unless you'd like to reschedule until after school gets out. You've got twenty minutes, and since Nuzleaf has planned to come over for dinner again tonight, best to get it done now." 

"What? You didn't tell me anything about that. And I'm not even finished eating!" Vallion complained, mouth still half-full with whatever glamorous dishes Pops decided to stuff it with. 

Her father would simply wave his concern away. "The food isn't going to get up and walk away while you're gone. Besides, I don't believe you understand just how large dinner tonight is going to be. You're going to need the extra room, especially since you technically don't recall having any of our best cooking before. Trust me on that." 

She hadn't even had the time to sneak in a bite, much less wash up or do anything other than lead Val to the door and finish waving goodbye to Pops. Urgency opened her eyes the full way as they plunged into the glowing morning mists, but the rush wasn't as unpleasant as she might have thought. Barreling through the peaceful little pathways while the rest of the village was still too sleepy to function gave the same impression as it would back then, when she would grab the Snivy's hand and charge forth to meet class before Farfetch'd bat them over the head with a leek and droned on for five minutes. This was hardly an experience she would have thought to share with him again this far into their lives, but here they were, bursting into the village center and waiting for his awkward turn to be corrected as they twisted towards the school. 

Many children of this year would just the same walk this route through the center and onto the school road, either punctual or desperate not to receive a verbal lashing worst than the dullest of lessons. Even at the quickened pace they took, Vallion's wide eyes sought to find all that could be found of this pathway. To him, this was just a quaint little forested road that had a great deal of unwritten history to uncover. But he couldn't feel the emotions they felt walking back and forth from their classes, the times of trust and sorrow and joy spent on just this insignificant rutt that were just events for him to know and wonder about now. How upset she had first gotten when Vallion was simply being honest in telling her that she was an overbearing person, the final stride after summer had begun-- it occurred to her again that all those were memories only she was able to keep. 

At the sleepy gate, Watchog would summon up quite the audible surprise that they were the first people he would see approaching him that day. Word of the Servine's condition had spread wide and far from mouth to mouth through the village, and since Watchog wasn't one of the few that came to the house on the first day and were subsequently told to leave for them to rest, he had instead heard much from his peers and was forced to stew in his curiosity. Vallion humored the enthusiasm as best he could, but was visibly shrinking away from the attention. Panne had to stop herself from intervening and explaining things herself, lest she make a fool of them both again to even more of the tiny population. They were lucky to have avoided meeting any of the friends she had wronged along the way, god knows that would have ended poorly for her. 

Val would explain their business and try to peel away at the conversation as quickly as he could, either understanding of their strict time restraints or simply just wanting it to end faster. Now that she had been relegated to the background of things, it came to question whether she was the one who was responsible for the beautiful recovery he had made thus far. Something in the back of her head insisted that she not get prideful over these things. He probably didn't even need to have been watched as closely as was urged by Floatzel, otherwise he wouldn't have been so calm wherever she had started panicking. At times, the Braixen managed to make things even more complicated than they needed to be for him. The little parts of her that wanted to feel happy were given that same speech of duty, entire debates going on in her head for pretty much no reason while she watched a pokemon try to chat the other into submission. 

She was forced to bite her mind's tongue when they were given the okay to head into the school for a short time, her being the guide and all. The grounds themselves hadn't gotten much bigger since they were still enrolled here, but a few structural additions and buildings as well as a larger classroom area were among the greater changes. It certainly wasn't to the drastic degree that the Society had upgraded, but it nevertheless was an improvement that would have kept Serene Village on the maps if they hadn't already ensured it to be. Panne emphasized these changes and explained what had once been as they began their hastened wander about the place. Thankfully, there weren't any further confrontations with the staff from that point, as most were likely still in Simipour's office preparing for the remaining few busy days. Apparently they both shared the aversion to being introduced to people he's supposed to have known his entire life. While it reintroduced that sinking feeling to her insides whenever coming back to the topic of those who figures who were now strangers, at least it proved to be something of a mutual disturbance for the both of them. 

Some things had to be explained and read aloud to a much higher detail. For as long as he's been in this state of unknowing, she not even once considered that he might have also lost his understanding of the universal alphabet. There were more things missing than just eight years of precious memories-- he had been rendered completely uneducated as a result of the same ritual. Bearing that grim realization behind a blank expression, he was lead away from the chalkboard and showed instead a wall of much more visually-based lessons to inquire about. Not that he necessarily needed any teachings of common sense, being just as clever and intuitive as before. It was simply to take him away from a product that hurt her more than it did him. 

In particular, his eyes locked onto the rather vague map of the world pinned to the center of the whole board. He approached it on his own, squinting at the simplified details as if it could be no closer to the truth. "Hey Panne, is this actually the map of the whole planet?" 

"Well sure. If you're willing to forgive a few inaccuracies and a missing island or two, that is." 

"Which one are we on?" 

Panne tapped a claw on the centermost body of land surrounded only by a void of blue. "This is the Water Continent we're standing on, named for its endless supplies of rain and minor rivers. The upper regions that aren't touching on the arctic circle are considered on par with the rainforests of the most tropical continent in the world. I wouldn't exactly say it's correct for us to be smack in the middle of the map persay, but when most cartographers come from a single place you tend to get a little bias mixed in." 

He stared attentively at the chart, his full attention locked on this sole lesson. "And you said we're the ones who made this map? Did we make this one in particular?" 

"I mean, not THIS map." Her fingers traced a closer estimate to the land's boundaries in demonstration of their extensive knowledge. "What you're looking at is a general outline of where the shores for each continent are and the potential ports around them, probably made by some sailors a few years ago and finally copied down onto this paper here. Most of the maps we have back at the Society are handmade, and are pretty much the keys to tracing maps more modern than this. We weren't skirting around shores or asking flying types for drawings, either. You'd find that the most accurate artistic depictions of pretty much the whole rugged surface, and a lot of caves and weird caverns, were made by the Society's hands. That includes yours and mine." 

With his mouth hung slightly open, Vallion looked down in wonder at the two leafy vestigial hands at his sides, then back up at the contours of the chart. She didn't have the heart to correct him and point out that he would have mainly used his vines to write. It just wasn't the kind of starry-eyed moment to interrupt. Any insight he could gain on the significance of his past was more important than the silly little technicalities the came with the body he had been given. Perhaps he had just now started to feel the true depth of the last few years, being among those who would dare to capture the world and put it to paper. 

Too soon were they forced to abandon the board, lest the same bell Simipour had been using since even before they arrived in this timeline would ring in spite of them. Though he at first seemed disappointed upon starting towards home, the enthusiasm the Servine expressed upon being assured that there was a true map of the world in a trunk somewhere at home was contagious. Their pacing upon the dirt passage had enhanced from that extra spring in his step, seemingly ignited at the potential stories of how they had became the giants they were. It was the happiest she had seen him since his wisdom had been stolen away. This sudden interest must have been the uncovering of his explorer essence, they were definitely making progress! He had even asked along the way if they were going to go back to the Society and witness the fruits of his forgotten labors. To simply be told that the world was made known by his drawings gave little response, but to see that map and understand the depth of that claim, Vallion was beaming. 

For once, there was no pang of pessimism to be found at the base of her throat while things started to get better, no doubletake to make sure it wasn't the lenses she looked through that had changed color. It was the hope cultivated now which fueled her stride to keep up with him, things really could be fixed. The angst in her heart couldn't stand up to the sight of him becoming so energetic and involved. You could have invented a ship that glides like a flying type before and he wouldn't have been much more than halfway impressed, but now he was having difficulty even containing himself as they sped through the morning fog. The only kind of thing he'd get this excited about anymore, or at least before the accident, was just her. 

...And just like that, the hollow ache in her chest found a way to pulsate and pound once more. 

 

Scents sweet, savory, and every flavor in between filled the room at all times, some so powerful that she could taste it on the back of her tongue. A window had to be opened prior just so that they wouldn't all suffocate on the delicious air that was produced in this process of tradition. As it was, those honored guests who would come to stay in this household would be showered with the most delectable food their pots and hands could create, though it was not a time of celebration that brought another huge dinner so soon. On the contrary, Pops found plenty an excuse to dine like a king with the bittersweet tragedy befalling Vallion and his lost memories. And the Carracosta may as well have been a king, as he could stock the entire storage of a trading vessel with the kinds of spices he was using in these dishes. The few times a year he did leave for the city were so ridiculously expensive that there were a few accomplished seafaring merchants that knew him personally. 

There was never a single person left out of the equation when it came to preparing these legendary feasts, either. Panne herself was forced to gather up as much positivity as possible and tend to the same ritual as everyone else in that crowded kitchen space. Nuzleaf joined of his own volition and found great pleasure in actually teaching someone else rather than being taught, as Vallion no longer knew the vital components of the most basic recipes. It was all ultimately overseen by her meticulous father and his brilliant mind when it came to how ingredients should come together. Between all of them and the excessive cooking taking place, the heat produced from it all was immense, though not uncomfortable due to her own physiology. A necessary struggle, as her father would say while watching for sauces ready to boil over. 

While normally an event like this would heighten her mood to near its zenith, she could hardly muster more than a half-smile the whole time. For all the jokes and stories being passed around while things broiled and baked, Panne felt too distant for any to land in a significant way, like she was emotionally in another room entirely. And today should have been the most joyous yet-- Val had been talkative all day, inquisitive of the littlest things when before he'd just sit alone in contemplation of them. It wasn't like she was being plagued with any of the heart wrenching pain that filled the previous days, but just enough unhappiness that it was annoyingly noticeable most moments. 

But there was no way that slight agony was enough to dampen the rate at which dishes began to become complete. Since the last dinner of this size had been so recent, along with general and more refined supplies alike starting to run low, they were forced to be quite a bit more creative with this batch. In the end, it would still be a smaller feast in comparison to how they usually were, but there was all the more reason to try everything. It wasn't without careful thought that they had achieved a truly peculiar arrangement of seasonings and courses that had yet to be tried even in a house as culinary as this. Most of which were outright illogical and probably tasted just as clashing as they smelled, but it nonetheless was all an extremely subtle gesture from her father. 

Panne knew he and Nuzleaf had planned this mess only to cheer the both of them up. It was partly of that pity which convinced Pops to experiment with things he would have otherwise said were too ridiculous to result in anything at all worth the trouble. She could only guess, but it seemed very likely that this was his way of truly sharing a new experience with the amnesiac Servine. Now they'd both be surprised by the things on their plates rather than just Val alone. It was a sweet gesture, if a little too sad. 

When finally able to sit down and enjoy the food they all took part in inventing, however, her gentle misery became much easier to ignore. The table was stacked with opportunities to try something new, and this being the first thing she's eaten all day, the tongue often has precedence over something as mild as a sour mood. Now that there was no use in any of them holding back, she took plenty of solace in that everyone's mouths were soon far too full for discussion to take place. And in the following explorations of eccentric and otherwise slightly unattractive fusions, a great longing rose up in the place of her silenced depression. Among the many nostalgic coincidences that have been born over the last week, this felt just like it did on the first night of their return. Everyone was beside themselves with contentedness and laughed like nothing was out of place in the universe, as if nothing had been lost. It was only her own chewing that slowed upon realizing how carefree they all seemed. Why couldn't she join them? 

In addition to her inability to push away the feeling of being out of place, there were plenty other minor things for her to begin obsessing over. Most worthlessly poignant was how Vallion seemed especially interested in some of the figy stew that had been suddenly imagined just this afternoon. The Braixen had tasted it herself, and the stuff was so spicy that it even managed to assault her veteran tastebuds with an unbearable burning flavor. Not long ago he would have been completely averse to things that were anywhere near this hot, and now he was drinking down something made with figy berries like it was the last he'd ever eat. What could have caused such a drastic change in preference? Just this morning she thought that they were starting to uncover bits of his old personality, but now Panne was questioning whether they might have been moving farther away all along. In silence these things ate at her. 

But as the recipes to try were all exhausted and stomachs began to rebel against their owners, a purpose was revealed beyond a bittersweet attempt at merriment. It was Nuzleaf who had invited himself here in the first place, and the creation of these curious dishes ended up being his idea all along. After all, Vallion was as much a son to him as to Pops, and one who had forgotten about their rocky past together. And so it was that, when the time came to speak and to listen, the grass type would leap at the opportunity and gather up everyone's attention to unveil the true reason he was here. To retell his life's greatest and most reckless mistake with all the candid detail he could impart about his side of the Dark Matter crises. 

The tale itself was not at all fitting for the warm scene they had created. His descriptions and motives were much too dark, far more vivid than the story she had told him on the first day of his new memories. It was only fitting that a person hold the lowest point in their life closest to their heart and continue moving ahead by too intimately knowing that hard past. And to his grim words Vallion listened intently, for he was the sole recipient Nuzleaf meant to speak with. He deserved to know the truth about some of those who had been claiming to know him, straight from the mouth of the person whose decisions had once spelled his death. It was his right to know, and she had omitted these more gruesome parts from her story after all. Nuzleaf didn't deserve to have that kind of consequence directed at him without his knowing. It just seemed like a ground she wasn't the one to tread. 

Even after learning about the betrayal of Revelation Mountain and the rest of the turmoil that was willingly inflicted upon him all those years ago, the Servine's expression was as neutral as his opinion. From the social cues of those around him, from the sheer honesty that was likely being displayed, and even from the rest of the food still before him, he found no logic in shunning Nuzleaf away. Forgiveness was settled a thousand times more quickly than it took to impart the dark past, and the meal had continued to its final stages with the tension completely clear from the air. There was no other way it could have gone. With someone like him, to understand the wrongdoings of those around him was more valuable than if they had stayed silent in shame of themselves. No doubt this kind of thing would cause him to wonder what kind of mistakes he had made in the past, ones that he had pledged himself not to forget. But that wasn't something she could help with. All of those which he would have still bore were locked away with the rest of the life he knew before. 

The setting never really recovered after that. Things were winding down too quickly, and while the room had little pressure to speak of, the long breaths they took gave a much better impression of how somber and heavy things had become. Nevertheless, Panne didn't stop sucking in the mood and pretending that everything was fine. This was just a rough spot, and it was a very important thing to happen nonetheless. It'll surely get better in the morning. She won't have to keep biting her tongue when she finally crests this hill and the call from the Society comes. Everything she endured was for his sake, that was the most important thing to remember. Pawing at the scarf around her neck that she refused to remove after all this time, the Braixen gathered her thoughts while the others gathered their dishes. 

Also similarly to the first night back was the sullen way everyone grew ready to retire. It was with a heartfelt goodbye and thanks that Nuzleaf would depart for his home none too far away, but Val wouldn't be sneaking off with him to claim the two tokens of marriage as he did before. A solid thunk marked the exit, the noise reverberating more than just the drums of their ears. Very soon after and with sleepy regards would she and Vallion find themselves in her old room as lights everywhere else around the house were extinguished but the single candle upon the nightstand beside them, which waited patiently to be killed by a breath and allow the fresh night to rule. It was a modest flickering at best, but plenty to give her a little more comfort about what kinds of demonic presences would swoop down at them in the coming hours. He still needed her protection, after all. 

"Hey," his whisper brought her all the way back down to earth. "Are you staying the night in here again?" 

"I wouldn't feel comfortable sleeping in my father's room anymore, not after what tried to get at you last night," the Braixen replied in just as gentle a tone, though likely unable to utter anything much louder anyway. "I can't just leave you in here alone. We can probably fix having your memories be drained, but I'm not so sure about having your entire soul be ripped out of your body. I don't have the slightest clue as to how that stuff works. I'd rather sleep here, if you'd let me." And she wanted to spend more time with him. It barely supplemented the yearning she hadn't felt for a very long time until now, but it would have to do for the time being. 

He sat up within the bed of covers. "In that case, while everyone's in this weird confessional mood, can I ask you about something?" 

Shrugging in response, she pivoted around towards him. "Sure, I guess. I wasn't planning on going to sleep right away, anyways. Too worried." 

A practiced vine sprung forth from behind his collar and lingered in the air a moment. "I keep meaning to ask this, but there's always something important going on that causes me to forget." The thin tendril snaked forth and touched a point on her chest, pulling the smallest of gasps from the deep of her lungs. "Do you have the story of where this scar came from? Not to offend you, but it's quite big and very noticeable, and it looks like it used to be pretty dangerous before it closed-- If that's not too personal a thing for me to know." 

"O-oh! No, it's perfectly fine. I was planning on telling you about it eventually." Her hand traced over the place where fur had been missing, trying hard to feel the difference. The mark had been there for so long that it was nearly invisible to her own senses, but looking down at it, the jagged old wound was indeed very clear against the white. "It's funny you should ask, actually. I got this little thing from a mission that ended up being a lot more important to us both than we originally thought upon hearing about it. A lot more dangerous, too, if you couldn't tell." 

Even after all the information he had been ingesting today alone, once Vallion's eyes had honed in on hers, he was ready again to take on another piece of his world. The Braixen sighed and surrendered to his intense observation, as he'd probably pick up on every sad twitch of her facial muscles that would inevitably follow. "Alright.. So it wasn't long after Dark Matter, only a handful of months at best. Things were finally starting to pick up in the Society and everyone was getting antsy to get working on some final drafts for the Mist Continent. I think we were about to be sent to some boring wasteland place in Sand, but there was an emergency call just that morning, and we WERE a registered rescue team before all else. It seemed like a normal thing at the time, a kid gets lost somewhere in a mystery dungeon not too far east from here, or west from Lively City. That kind of thing happens much more often than it should. Anyway, off we were to Poliwrath River, but not without hesitating a few times in between.” 

"There was a lot of.. tension, I guess, between us. You were getting all fidgety and flustered around me, and I was trying to figure out what buttons I could push at the time. Neither of us were really prepared for a whole political uprising and rebellion from just that tiny section of forest. It was something big enough that it was affecting completely irrelevant people halfway across the continent who barely even noticed something was wrong, so we pretty much had to get involved. There was a lost kid in the midst of this mess and we were pretty much the only people who had the capacity to care at the moment. Well, to make a long story short, we sure did get involved-- but the kind of involved where the neither of us got any sleep the night before, I had a broken leg and some bruises, and you cracked three ribs while looking like you ran through bramble hell after coming to save me from a wooden cell in a cave. That kind." 

He stared on, but his face was impossible to read, and all the while she felt her own only get more expressive as the story continued. "There was a huge battle going on since that morning, and it had ended by the time we could see the sky again after limping out of that place. You ended up saying something noble to have the losing faction leader's life spared, I can't really remember what exactly since the situation was seriously rushing by at the time, but it gave the spiteful wretch enough time to launch a devastating counterattack that we were apparently supposed to have been running from already. Having had a broken leg and all, it was my fault we were stuck in the attack's range when it went off." 

"Was that what gave you the scar?" He blurted out, immediately shrinking back down from interrupting. "Sorry. I mean, what was the attack like? How did it get to be so powerful that we actually had a radius to run out of? It was just one person, right?" 

"A Frenzy Plant with way too much power packed behind it and a lot of specific circumstances met, but you probably don't know what any of that would mean. Just imagine if.. if a tree's roots were five inches thicker, grew spines, and could explode outward at stupid speeds while completely upturning the ground. That's the kind of thing that could rip my chest open." Panne tried to part the fur so that he could see the patch of scar tissue a little better. "There was already a reviver seed between your teeth when you jumped in front of me to bear the blow. At the last second, being the little idiot I was at the time, I thought it would be romantic to be the one who blocked the attack for you. And it was, in addition to being one of the closest times I've ever been to death. Unless you count petrification I suppose, in which case everyone on the planet over nine years old would have already experienced being dead. You still ended up being the one to save me in the end, anyway." 

Panne began to fidget about like she was giving away one of her deepest secrets. Her stomach was filled with flutters and unease, and it was probably far too obvious. "It you weren't there and hadn't done the right things, I would have died up on that hill all those years ago. But even with my chest ripped open and my blood practically pouring out of me, I wasn't too scared. I thought I had saved you, so my death was already justified in my own head. Not that I remember much of that span of time, considering there was hardly enough oxygen running through my body at that point to even stay alive." What rested in the back of her mind this whole story finally came to the tip of her tongue, as stupid as it was. Wouldn't it be correct to give him the whole thing, ending and all? "You know, we- uh.. after everything had calmed down and we were taken back to the Society to recover, that's when we had our first kiss." Those final words needed to be forcefully pushed out for some reason, giving them an unnatural cadence. 

The Servine's expression didn't even twitch, silently spurring her on to continue through the quiet. Why would he? Their relationship was common knowledge by now. "I- It was a terribly rainy night at the time, and we were both exhausted. You were the only one who could move around the compound reliably, and at that point it had occurred to me how stupid I almost was and I started getting really depressed. And god did it hurt to even exist. That's one of the easier things to remember, my body definitely didn't take well to being split open and shattered. You were just trying to stop me from crying, but you got all cheesy and fluffy and it was too distracting and.." Her lips pursed as she crossed her arms and angled herself away. Stop rambling, idiot. That had nothing to do with the story. 

"We really were something before this, weren't we?" Vallion's low hum filled the air as she felt his gaze shift away from her. While the weight of his scrutiny had been lifted, she had completely and horribly ruined the atmosphere of the room. A shuffling brought every flustered attention right back and twisted her ears upright. In his vines was loosely clutched the other green cloth meant to be paired with her own, swiped up from the same bed stand as the single candle and examined closely. "These scarves were important to that, right? Aren't they supposed to look like the ones we wore back when the world was ending? 

A sigh came from the bottom of her throat first. "Mhmm. They're actually almost the same, just a little less powerful. You had been slowly trying to recall this human ritual where two people pretty much took an oath to stay with one another even after death, and those were the kinda convoluted physical symbol of that joining. Well, that's what you had time to tell me, at least. It was the last thing I spoke to you about before the Spiritomb stole you away." 

"Oh..." he muttered, and silence had overtaken them again. It was starting to get far too heavy for her to hold back anymore. Her lungs started to shiver and shake, her eyes closed if only to trap the tears which began to well up just behind. Everything she had held back for the last few days came pounding at the door, yelling to be let in. The friends she had turned away from for no reason, her own incompetence at seeming fine for his sake, even the petty urge to sidle up beside him and indulge in the slightest bit of physical affection. Vallion should have been ashamed with her, at how dependent she was all the time. It wouldn't have to be this way if she was even a fraction as strong as he was even without having any foundation at all to stand on. Why, WHY did she let herself feel alone!? 

The Servine spoke up again. "Hey, are you going to be alright?" 

Of course, she was still being too obvious. Panne sniffed away her misery and wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, of course I am. I've been through plenty rougher spots than this. I'll survive." 

"Are you sure?" he persisted, still holding the scarf. "I mean, I don't doubt you, but.. I'm sorry if I've hurt you at all." 

"No! No no, please don't blame yourself for any of this!" Panne swung back around and urged closer to him, the first of many drops slipping down the sides of her face and getting caught in her fur. "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault! J-just keep doing what you were doing before, learning and thinking and- and being happier. I don't want you to stop being happy." 

She was falling apart, uncontrollably defying the screaming parts of her brain that have been trying for days to prevent this exact situation from happening. This was weak and dangerous, they said. This could change his perspective for the worse and turn him away. If he didn't get his memories back, he might never love her again if she messed this up now. But it was too late to hide anything anymore. "I never wanted any of my stupid feelings to get in the way like this. I've been trying to be as strong as you, I really have! I thought of you constantly when I was still trying to find the way to the Spiritomb. How you wouldn't even have been scared, trying to piece together the way you would deal with it all-- but I just don't know how to do it anymore. I don't know how to fix this like you would have!" 

"Panne, it's okay. You don't have to fix everything right away," he tried to say, but the sound of her sobs were louder still. 

"And- and I miss you! You're right in front of me, literally sitting right there, and I just can't stop missing you! Isn't that the stupidest thing?" Some hysterical laughter slipped out between tears, the collapse absolute and clean. "Haheh, you're hardly even different at all. That's what makes me feel so guilty, you're the same person right down to the way you look at things. I should be more than happy that you're safe and sound, even happier that everything is actually looking up, but I can't even manage to smile anymore! I can't figure out why it's so hard to just.. just exist! I'm trying so hard to be happy for you, but this goddamn pain in my chest won't go away! It's ruining everything, I'm ruining everything!" 

The Servine made no further attempts to staunch the flow, instead watching the crashing Braixen come undone before him with that contemplative expression again. She could hardly see him through the blur, but even that was enough to remind her of the fatal mistake she just committed to. But she felt invigorated. To stop pressing this misery back down her throat and denying it power over her, letting it envelop her thoughts and hurt as bad as it wanted, it was one of the greatest feelings of tragedy that had overcome her in a long time. It shook in her hands and uglied her face and doubled her over, this addictive disgrace of desperately wanting him to comfort her and knowing damn well that it was pathetic to thrust that kind of desire upon him. 

A gasp replaced her crying temporarily as a vine wrapped itself around her wrist suddenly. Through a sheen of tears she looked up and saw the intent written on his face. Raising her hand up, he clumsily took the vine which still was wrapped around the scarf and draped the fabric into her palm and over the side. After she grabbed hold and stifled a cough, Vallion found his turn to speak in that tender murmur. "Listen, okay? This is really important. I want to give you a deal." He pulled his vines back, but she could still feel the places they grabbed. "I was the one who proposed the marriage thing with these scarves, right? If.. if I'm not in any position to know the depth of any of that, then you should be the one to hold onto it. That way, when I get my memories back and realize how important it is, or if things.. just seem right again, I guess-- you'll be able to rightfully give it back to me. Think of it like you're taking the things I used to feel and saving them in that little scarf for later. Things might seem a little different now, but the me that existed before this isn't dead... Does all this make you feel a little better?" 

"I don't know," she whispered back, voice and hands trembling but with the last of the water in her eyes blinked away. There was suddenly a lot of weight in the tiny pieces of fabric between her fingers and around her neck. 

"Well just think on it for a little while, alright? I'm not going anywhere." With that, the Servine slithered over to the lonely candle and, in a single breath, gently plunged the room into a vague darkness. The next sounds of shuffling were of him sliding between layers of blanket and finding a comfortable position to rest. She hadn't moved much since her hand was borrowed, but now she sniffed away the rest of her sorrow and took the plant fibers with both hands. It was silent even in her mind as she meticulously folded the fabric and brought the ends together around the wrist his vines had touched. The knot was difficult to make in this half light, but it was simple enough that mere feeling it through was adequate to make it whole. Then finally came the final awkward tugging that would tie and bind it. Only when both treasures were thoroughly fastened to her body did Panne find it acceptable to settle down into the bedding. 

And no matter what direction she faced or how she was situated between, there was simply no comfort to be found amidst the soft covers. The Braixen would quickly settle for lying plainly on her back and staring up at the ceiling, unable to stop feeling the pressure of many more things than just the physical objects on her person which she had pledged to. It was a curious place to be, caught in the abstracts between what these scarves meant and how the both of them truly felt. The tug of war in her brain was being waged even now, as pointless as it was. There was no going back and changing the things she blurted out in that moment of unabashed sadness. What was said apparently needed to be said, and now things may have very well been doomed. It was kind of hard to tell at the moment. She shifted about in place again, finding no solace in the new position that was randomly decided. 

"I love you," Panne said aloud, but there was no response. It didn't matter whether he was awake or not to hear.


	7. The Road More or Less Traveled

A shrill ringing reverberated off the walls. Her hands froze with her heart, the menial chore she had occupied herself with coming to a screeching halt. Panne tossed away the rag in her hands and instantly forgot about the task, startling Vallion as she dashed forward, plunging past him in a near collision. She'd have the right mind to twist around and apologize, but the possible importance of this call outweighed her own guilt. Nearly crashing into the corner of the table, the Braixen swiped up the flashing gadget from its center and pressed a button on its side, praying dearly that this was for more than just a progress report. 

The blue orb shimmered excitedly for a moment longer before Floatzel's visage materialized within, still scanning for confirmation that the call had went through at all. Eventually enough, his eyes widened as her image finally went through. "Ah, good! Panne, get your bags packed and ready. We've found the Hydreigon." 

"What? Where!?" her shouts were the next sounds to test the house's acoustics. If Vallion hadn't already been tipped off that something was going on, he did now by just the breathy volume of her voice. She withdrew farther from the orb after briefly recovering from the abrupt news. "I mean- that was just a lot faster than I expected it to be. I didn't think I'd get the call for at least another few days, considering there was an entire world to sift through for this one pokemon." 

He nodded. "Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise for us as well. I sent everyone out to different port cities just to get the search jump-started, thinking we could maybe find some leads on where the species might want to hang out in the region. Mawile managed to luck out hard in Sahra before anyone could even get any, though. Apparently the Hydreigon traveling through there at the time was the same one that Vallion was talking about. They remembered whatever favor he wanted to call in and promised to come back to the Society to fulfill it. I just got the report, so it should still take a good while for them to find a boat to hop on. The Lapras doesn't care much for large dragon types." 

"Why didn't Mawile call me as soon as she found them, then? The first I'm hearing it is from you, but don't you think it's kind of a big deal that we know what's going on? I mean, it's Val's memory that's messed up," her voice was riddled with impatience, yet Floatzel would only shrug in response. 

"It's more efficient to have me relay the message, I suppose. You both might have started moving out sooner if she called you, but then the rest of the Society would still be in the dark anyway. You can expect their arrival back at the compound somewhere around noon tomorrow. And while this link's open and you're talkative, has there been any complications with Vallion or his condition over the wait? You haven't sent me any reports to the contrary, but I just assumed you didn't really have the time." 

Panne looked over to the Servine, who stared out from beside the doorframe, shamelessly honing in on the conversation. He only shrugged his vines in response to the question and continued to listen. It was somewhat of a vague matter to begin with, as him having complications would imply they knew anything about his condition in the first place. What exactly would a complication be? "No, I don't suppose there's really been much in the way of things going wrong, per say. We've been trying to get him to remember something this whole time, though that hasn't worked out yet..." She silenced the thought and redoubled her focus. "Okay, look. If the Hydreigon's going to be there by midday tomorrow, and we're all the way over here and can only travel by foot, shouldn't we just shut up and leave already? I mean, if we're going to be late no matter what, we might as well try to minimize the damage." 

"I guess so. It's a decent distance to cross," Floatzel said, the orb on his end shifting disorientingly in his grasp for a moment as he peered more closely into the image. "Nice scarf, by the way. Couldn't really find the place to notice it in the call a few days ago. Did Vallion get it for you before the attack?" Her lips pursed at his casual prodding, to which Floatzel pulled himself a few inches away from the receiver and sighed. "Right, right. Just saying that it looks good on you is all. No need to get all worked up." 

"We're leaving now. Can't afford to waste any time. Expect us late tomorrow." She twisted a knob on the gadget's side and watched the image fizzle out into a transparent blue. The news tingled in her fingertips even after the call ended, her heart steadily picking up speed since it had began. Panne could hardly even believe they were given the order to move out, it had come and gone so quickly. As surreal as it seemed, there was finally a concrete goal before them, and it began with getting their stuff together and charging towards Lively City as quickly as their legs could carry them. No more waiting by the table and putting all her focus into willing the sphere to ring. In the short following moments where she concentrated on calming down, the peculiar cloth around her wrist began to itch again. 

She heard Vallion meekly approach from behind, speaking up when she had stilled entirely. "So.. we're leaving, then? Just like that?" 

"Just like that," the Braixen assured before shaking free of the trance and standing up off her knees. "Oh dammit, we should have packed days ago. I mean, there was no reason not to if we knew this kind of thing was coming, right? Quick, go find your bag while I set mine up." She plunged past him again back into her room and scanned excitedly for where she had carelessly tossed her backpack among scattered blankets. The Hydreigon certainly wouldn't want to come all the way to this nowhere town just to have the favor cashed in, would they? It was ridiculous that she didn't prepare to leave sometime earlier if she was so anxious about it. What were they even supposed to bring for the trip? Were they preparing for something specific? The energy buzzed in her veins, but deep in her guts was an unshakable sense of foreboding that couldn't quite be placed. 

Upon finding the woven bag, the first thing that she shoved into it was the exploration gadget still clutched in her other hand. While doing so, she sifted through the contents already within to know what they wouldn't have to raid Kecleon for. Though it wasn't like they were throwing themselves to the mercy of a dungeon or anything of that caliber. It was just average travel, there probably wouldn't be any need for rope or orbs while simply walking along the trade route through the mountains. She next reached for Vallion's own gadget, which had been sitting beneath the nightstand and gathering dust since she left to fight the Spiritomb. Would she have to explain how to operate the thing? What kind of situations would he even need to have that knowledge? Obviously if they got separated, but how could she allow such a thing to happen to begin with? No, none of that mattered right now. They needed as much daylight as possible if they wanted to reach the pass in a reasonable frame of time. 

Panne turned around to see the Servine once more standing awkwardly in the doorway, a disconcerted look on his face and a bag sunken with emptiness in his vines. It didn't make much longer for her to ignore the excitement pumping through her body and take his expression to heart. There had to be at least some communication between them, otherwise there would be many more last nights and she'd continue to ruin things on a regular basis. His shiftiness would probably only hurt them both in the end. A nasal sigh came before her words. "Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt to slow down a little bit. Is something wrong?" 

"No, I wouldn't want to-..." he first began, but seemed to immediately hit the same wall as her, looking away and fidgeting clumsily with the bag. "To tell you the truth, I'm a bit anxious about going to the Society. Everything just.. everything seems a lot more bearable around here than it would in an actual city. There just isn't enough to this village to make me feel overwhelmed. The people are friendly and more or less easy to meet, and the pace at which I took it all in was very slow-- but now that we're actually leaving for the Society itself, I can't help but feel really uneasy about all of this. It's just such a huge part of everything, and I know next to nothing about it. I wouldn't even belong there anymore." 

"But you do belong! You're still you!" the Braixen shouted and took a bold step forward, but just as soon letting her chest sink back down and planting her next few steps more delicately. She took the bag from him and dropped his gadget inside forcing her sullen eyes not to turn away. No more of that."I.. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so insensitive, of course I know what you mean. It's going to be way too much to take in at first glance, and Hydreigon probably isn't going to make it much easier aftewards. I promise we'll be able to take it as slow as possible. Though, what I can't promise is how slow that actually is." 

The conversation continued into the kitchen, where Panne halfheartedly filled canteens and opened cupboards in search of a decent meal for that night. "I wouldn't want to force you along too quickly, but it might just be a necessary evil on the road to your recovery. And I'm sorry that it unnerves you, I really, truly am! Still, if this Hydreigon was so important that the past you made absolutely sure that I knew about them, then there aren't really any other alternatives." Not to mention she so dearly missed his affection that any chance of getting it back sooner was at the forefront of her mind. It was better for both of them to just accept that desire and not repeat the same weak-willed mistakes as last night. 

Vallion replied to the back of her head. "It's just that I'm starting to understand how much of this world I'm supposed to know, but suddenly don't anymore. I get nervous thinking about seeing everything I should instantly recognize as entirely new, you know? At that point there's no way to describe myself as anything other than a fraud. Well, I already kind of feel like a fraud to begin with, but wouldn't this be the place that I identify myself most with these days? Without all those memories, I am a completely different Vallion to the one that was familiar with the Society." 

"Nah. You're not so different," her voice grew somber. The search for viable rations had halted as her hands fell into her lap, but she continued looking forward as if still trying. "Maybe you've changed a little over these last few days, but it's a bit much to say that you're an entirely different person now. The Vallion you were would have probably felt the same way if he were dropped into a human body and shoved into a human society. Even if he technically belongs, it sure wouldn't feel that way at first. Err, that didn't really sound like it would help much. Sorry." It was yet another issue she couldn't possibly hope to help him overcome. What good was she if this tiny emotional problem was completely beyond her reach? She just.. she shouldn't be so overbearing anymore. That's what ruined everything in the first place. "I appreciate you being honest with me, anyway. If I were in your place, I likely wouldn't trust myself half as much as you seem to. Not that I'm not someone who isn't trustworthy, it's that.. Yeah. Sorry." 

Back to business and beyond the awkward conversation, she was quick to deduce that common berries would have to suffice as a lackluster dinner tonight. The house was positively cleaned after that second feast, and Pops wouldn't be back with more food until it was too late to leave. At least they wouldn't really spoil too much at the end of the day, hot weather permitting. After having found a plastic container and stored away pretty much all that was left of their kitchen's edible ingredients, Panne placed them within the Servine's bag and motioned behind her to hand it back while her mind trailed off in her father's direction. In the drawers somewhere there was a pencil and probably some scrap sheets of paper. Pops might start to worry if she didn't leave a note to let him know they were summoned to leave as soon as possible. Once the materials were obtained in a flurry of haste and rummaging, she began to jot down a tiny message on the back of some receipts in scratchy handwriting. 

 

>   
>  Pops,  
>  Call finally came in, we basically have to leave as soon as possible. In any case, sorry for suddenly disappearing, and for taking the last of the berries in the house. I promise to help extra with the groceries next time we come over. Hopefully by then Val will have his memories back and we can actually relax for once
> 
> Love you, Panne  
> 

 

There, that should do it. Anything to prevent him from worrying too much was enough to satisfy her. Meaning to set the pencil down and turn away, the Braixen recalled something of incredible importance while reaching down for her backpack. It was enough of a jolt to twist back around and swipe the pencil up once more in a panic to produce the thought to paper. It would have been unbearable to leave without noting just this single little thing, since she would have definitely remembered later and agonized about it for much longer than was necessary. 

 

>   
>  P.S.  
>  Could you tell some of my friends that I'm sorry? Well, at least tell them that I plan on apologizing, anyway. I don't think I could make it a day out of town without going crazy if they didn't know how guilty I feel for treating them like trash. I'll make it up later for sure, this is just something I have to do first.  
> 

 

NOW things were settled in a semi-agreeable way, for now. With finality she slammed the pencil back down and set an empty bowl upon the paper's corner so it couldn't possibly drift away in their absence. All that was left was helping Vallion figure out how to fasten his bag to himself before slipping on her own, and after that was accomplished, everything was in order to set off. Though the thought nagged at her constantly, there was nothing more they could do that wouldn't be over preparation and waste too much time. In truth, all this tiny journey needed were the two scarves fastened to her body and the fidgeting Servine. The rest were luxuries at best. 

With nothing left but to take the first steps towards getting her Vallion back, Panne beckoned for him to follow out the door one last time and breathed in the last she would smell of home. Once past the abrasive adjustment of her pupils to the noon atmosphere, the door was shut behind them with an unexpected intensity. It was probably the sudden departure which made it seem so.. tragic? It almost felt like she was abandoning the village as they pressed their noses forward and sped through the quiet paths, though that was hardly the case. Nobody even knew they were leaving to begin with, so she couldn't expect any farewells either. Maybe that's why she couldn't shake the feeling that she was leaving something behind? Alas, there was purpose to her tendons that couldn't possibly collapse to something as simple as a few short twinges of sadness. If only she could have harnessed this kind of perseverance earlier. 

The smell of rain rested on the edges of the wind, which already felt a lot less heavy with heat than it did in the previous days. Even the sun above was occasionally obscured by thin patches of cloud. They were just in time for the weather to go sour. Great. Maybe if they moved quick enough, the mountains would protect them from the coming downpours just long enough to slip through without a single drop landing on their heads. The question was whether or not they had that kind of speed now that Vallion had a lessened understanding of his own body. Aside from the hike back from the ancient cave, which was one where they were all already exhausted, there hadn’t been an opportunity for him to get to know the ceiling of his physical abilities. He had gotten more used to the swerving stride of his species since then, so perhaps it wouldn't be so impossible to achieve that kind of distance before they got soaked. 

With how glacial the village center was-- probably from most pokemon withdrawing into their homes after detecting the changing skies, or with a combination of those still recovering from being sick-- it occurred to her that adjusting him to Lively City's speed was going to be a nightmare. And all she could really do was drag him through its streets and hope- Oh, whatever. She was probably just underestimating him again, like she's continued to foolishly do every single time he would have been tested. Nervous as he was, this kind of thing didn't really stop him from saving the world before, did it? What's a bustling city to an omniscient creature that was the summary of all disdain and hate over a thousand years? Besides, it was probably better she kept her distance from him, anyway. 

Before them soon laid the long and winding dirt path which eventually led from this tiny town all the way to the far eastern coast. This time, the Braixen didn't turn back around to bask in the sentimentality of leaving behind her home once. There was no room for those emotions anymore, and in just the last week alone she'd had her fill to last the rest of the year. "Alright," she began with a deep breath as they took the first few steps into the journey. "So we're going to Lively City, which basically encompasses the entire peninsula in the center east of the continent. You won't really notice, but the place more than tripled in size over the past few years with the notoriety the Society gave it. We're going to be traveling along a well-known trade route, so there's not much chance we're going to get lost along the way. It even becomes paved with stone after a while once we get close enough. Just keep moving your feet and we'll get there eventually." 

"It's not really the journey that scares me," Vallion replied as he fell into instinct and allowed his body to make the necessary serpentine motions of a brisk pace. 

"And it shouldn't," she replied, looking back at the road. "As kids, we took a really stupid roundabout passage over the mountains themselves to get to Lively City back when it was still just a little port town. If we could survive several days following that poor choice in direction back then, we can easily follow a road that's so widely walked that most regional maps mark it as a major route. Well, at least this little branch will eventually merge into that road, anyway. There's not going to be much of a struggle other than dealing with some of the steeper slopes." 

He went quiet for a few moments, either from contemplation or having to correct his walk cycle manually. "Yeah," was all that followed it before the diligent silence of travel took hold. To occupy herself at first, Panne went over their short journey in her head over and over, just to make sure they would arrive at the Society in time. It was hardly a necessary step to do so, she already knew this entire path like the back of her hand, timings and walking speeds and all. If anything, it was just to keep her mind from slipping into places that could easily turn dark. Now was the time for action, not for beating herself up over trivial emotions that had no place getting in the way. Who knows? There might be something more she could learn from concentrating on the familiar path ahead. 

Yet even with the minor distraction, there was a certain hollowness about the silence that persisted above all, like she was supposed to be explaining something this whole time but neglected to. But what was possibly there to discuss that hadn't already been exhausted or would be better off shown than told? Was it a mistake to be listening instead of speaking, to ignore the repetitive thud of every step they took on the compacted grass and dirt? There weren't exactly many more questions she had the answer to, and without the Hydreigon, the list to choose from was intimidating to say the least. Her paws hastened their rhythm so that the trees would pass by that insignificant fraction of a meter faster, though the metronome of their feet still didn't sound acceptable once quickened. Distance was the only thing that kept him from the next step to being better, and that was something she at least had some control over. 

The expanse of the forest didn't stand a chance against her renewed determination. Practically dragging Val along, their breathing soon became heavy and their legs even more so. It was nothing compared to the sheer fatigue that plagued the Braixen none too long ago, yet was infinitely more liberating. To actually exert herself instead of sitting around and wading in her own indecision was incredible. It took most of her focus not to just break out into a reckless sprint and run until she couldn't anymore. What she wouldn't give to push her body to the point of collapsing right now. No more pangs of loneliness whenever the cloth on her wrist became too apparent, no more fruitlessly trying to think of ways to help the Servine who lagged behind on the road, and no more stupid angst butting into real decisions. It sure would be hard to stay upset if her lungs were begging for air. 

It wouldn't be long before an end was put to that invigorating speed. A chill washed over her without warning, strong enough to bring the world around her back into perspective like a disorienting wave. A gasp escaped her before anything else, for it was beyond what a gust of wind from the approaching storm would feel like. Vallion stopped in his tracks as well, his head turned and trying to stare off beyond a thick layer of brush. She had forgotten what had been following them all this time, caught in her own spiral of thoughts and oblivious to the, ironically, most tangible threat to Val's safety. There was simply no other explanation for the sudden drop in temperature. The Braixen cursed in the direction of whatever the Servine was locked onto, feeling her relief to be making progress at all fall away into the frustration of having that progress challenged. "Dammit! I should have assumed it would follow us!" 

"It whispered to me," Vallion muttered, not daring to move his eyes away from where they decided to land. "I couldn't tell what it said, but I definitely heard something of a voice. I.. I think it's been watching us for a while." He tried to gulp down some of his terror, yet the acute expression on his face changed little upon tearing his eyes away and scanning the hillside for anything else that caught his attention. "It's following me, isn't it? Not us, but just me?" 

"Let the bastard come, then! He can't do much more than whisper!" Panne shouted to the surrounding woods, her pent-up energy translating far too efficiently into the task. It wouldn't have taken more than a moment for her hands to catch flame in such a state. Yet she knew the nature of their cowardly foe, who had dissipated into nothing at the first sign of trouble. She knew in the pit of her stomach that nothing more would come of this scare. With a sigh she blew away the smoke that had built up in her lungs. There wasn't going to be a fight. "We've already beat it once before, and that was when it still had puppets that used to be pokemon. I can't imagine a creature like this making any brave advances after I put it through a vortex of fire the first time. Without it having any cronies that can hypnotize or mentally debilitate us, it's probably just going to hang out a good distance away and be annoying." 

"That didn't answer my question." 

She hummed, turning around and gesturing to follow. "Well I don't like the answer to that question, so I'm going to make sure that it's completely irrelevant altogether." With that, Panne took off back down the path they were originally staring down at, an extra bit of impact added to her step. The Servine hesitated to match the speed she stomped away at, but eventually managed to dash back up as she continued on like he was already right behind. "Come on, we can't let it stall us out any longer. That's pretty much the only power the Spiritomb has over us right now, and I'd rather it have none." And thus, back to the metronome they went, just a little more wary than before. 

Numerous patches of cloud continued to roll over the sun, bringing about dull shadows of massive proportion to slowly crawl over the forest. But even so, the scent of rain had almost entirely disappeared from the air. It was the kind of day that would have been a good omen if it had taken place in the early spring, but this was nowhere near then. The weather would only leave her wanting for warmer swathes of light to pierce the clamoring skies. Though she couldn't dispute that it was nice not to be rained on, and she took solace in that it wasn't drafty enough for the temperature to be masked if ever their pursuer made a move. There was enough summer in the air yet to enjoy the way the mountains filtered crisp winds into the valley without Vallion freezing half to death. 

The rut in the road grew deeper and more defined as they came across several other branching passages, shooting off in directions leading all around the central region of the continent. The one they followed began adjusting to the more extreme terrain as well, becoming wavier and more vertical as time went on. In idle moments where her ears were not searching for ominous sounds, Panne wondered of the flying types who could cross through these great walls of earth without having to take such a roundabout path. She imagined more silly things, like how things would be different if she were an avian pokemon who could manage this kind of distance on her own. Would she have cared so much about making a map of the world if its difficult terrains mattered so little? All these thoughts were ones she's probably had plenty of times before, and while those little moments were lost to time, she could imagine how the answers to her daydreams might have differed from the now. In any case, it was more entertaining than watching the sun inch further on its eventual descent behind the peaks surrounding her, and less stressful that worthlessly searching for the spectre that followed in their footsteps. 

It was these kinds of idle internal chatters that made the perpetual climb bearable to begin with, so any that popped in were acceptable by her standards, even if they were fantasies were redundant already. Nature was a beautiful thing and all that, but god knows she's seen enough roadside trees to last the thousand year span she was thrown over. There was typically very little to witness below a few hundred feet in the Water Continent. Trees upon different kinds of trees upon thickets that were just hiding more trees. Dendrology could be interesting at times, and it was inherently important to know what kinds of wood burned in what ways and which made the best catalysts for her pyrotechnics, but staring at thousands of the damn things gets a little old after a while. It wasn't like finding a pleasant grove with a creek running through it, as such a thing had an entirely different mindset to marching through a seemingly endless expanse of mundane woods without more than two or three other pokemon every twenty minutes. Perhaps everywhere was still recovering from the Spiritomb's ritual? 

At least Vallion seemed a little more enthusiastic about the same old scenery. Everytime she turned around, he was gazing wide-eyed at sights she could hardly even notice anymore while passing by. There was one such view that actually managed to impress her however-- a particularly verdant overlook where the fallen trees were completely covered with moss and colorful fungi, some of which were actually motionless grass types simply enjoying the breeze that filtered down. It was enough of a refreshing sight to put a hesitance in her step while they traveled by, though it was not simply for pleasure that he’d scan the thickets below. At times she knew he was explicitly looking for suspicious motion beneath obscuring shadows, but it would usually turn out to just be a tiny pokemon going about their day without any modern worries looming over their heads. It surely must have been interesting for this stretch of road to be new again, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty about the means. There were more ways to make things exciting for the Servine besides wiping all his memories away and shoving the world back at him. 

Wouldn't that have been a much more pleasant problem to have instead of the terrible crisis Vallion was stuck with now? What if, instead of having an ancient evil chase him down and try to steal his soul, it was just going to be the week where Val finally got bored of everything? She might have had to scramble to find something exotic to occupy him, though she'd probably only think of foods at the time. Maybe somewhere in the middle there'd be a meeting with her and all their friends, and in its process they would come up with some convoluted plan to make him excited about something stupid. There could have been a sweet ending after many failed attempts where he'd say something like 'I don't need excitement in my life as long as I have you' or any other dumb one-liner she'd have loved to hear. But no. Instead of anything like that, they were trudging through the mountains at certainly dangerous speeds after several days of contemplating whether she could actually still love him, all the while his memories were locked away somewhere nobody of this earth could possibly know except a mysterious dragon and the very super-ghost that was trying to steal his soul in the first place. And to think she was actually scared of the mundane life she would lead without any goals. 

The scarf on her wrist began to itch again. He didn't even seem that different from before, the most notable things being that he was a little more energetic and liked spicy food more than he once did. If anything, she was the one who changed most from being the ambitious Fennekin child who sought to make a map of the world-- the Fennekin child that resolved something so powerful that it could only rise milleniums at a time. And unlike the evil which released itself from the giant keystone, Dark Matter couldn't possibly have been confined to such an insignificant rock. It seemed almost like the old Panne had been dead and gone for a long time already. Perhaps while they were together, she and Vallion were strong enough that it didn't matter. But alone, she was a sobbing shell of the Fennekin who ascended beyond every possible expectation. It should have technically been Val trying to rescue the old her and not the other way around. 

Panne suddenly realized her own footsteps were the only set she could hear. Unknowing of how long this had been the case, the Braixen spun around in fright while fully expecting the Servine to be entirely gone from sight, probably already in the clutches of their persistent villain. But he wasn't, only standing a few feet farther back than he would have been following and staring off in a direction beyond the path. And it wasn't at a miasma of souls lumbering towards them that he gawked, but simply a decent view of the valley's countless treetops dotting the land for such a vast amount of miles that the colors of the far mountain range faded and blurred. From up here, they could finally see beyond the shattered layer of half hearted clouds to witness the approach of an intimidating grey front that reached up into the sky. Soon enough Vallion realized he was holding up the journey and hurriedly caught up so that they might continue. A part of her wanted to turn back and share that grandeur with him for just a little longer. 

Time along the road was indeed slow. Angles of shadow shifted more slowly as the day unwound, but the shadows themselves began to elongate and distort. The skies were once a consistent blue through holes in the white, but other colors had been creeping steadily in until the entire mountainside was tinted orange. It was hard to ignore a brilliant sunset even with how jaded her eyes had become to the repeating beauties of the world. From a spot higher up and on the corner of a surely fatal fall, she was the one who stopped their progress to watch the bulk of the towering thunderhead unleash a curved fog of rain as wind pushed it deeper into the valley. 

A dull flash from within the billowing mass, and moments later came a mighty rumbling that rolled across the distance to reach their ears, bouncing again off the many huge ridges of earth surrounding them. Their leave couldn't have come any sooner. Traveling through that thing would have been ridiculous with how thick the rainfall was, which from here was merely a harmless mist impenetrable by their eyes. It was a rare opportunity to see a storm unfold from afar like this, though, and Vallion seemed to appreciate that a lot more than her. She just wanted to share the moment with him before all else, watching streaks of white twist from the seams of the mighty vaporous mass and put cracks in the very atmosphere for just a split second, then waiting for the roar to catch up to them. She hated that she couldn't stop thinking about the fabric tied above her hand. 

The moment had come and gone without much fuss as they started back down the twisting road. After all, there was progress to be made and the skies burning with color told that there wasn't much time left in the day to make it. The warm feeling stayed with her chest a while longer as they pressed on to make that final stretch really count. It wasn't too necessary, as Sunrise Pass was only a short walk from this point anyway, but any little bit of leeway was definitely something she preferred to snatch up as the opportunity came. This section of the journey they had thoroughly conquered, yet it was the last half that she dreaded the most for its possible weather. If a storm had actually pierced the northern mountains already, who knows if the spiral hadn't already been crawling over the eastern regions? Thunder still cracked in the distance, and Panne could only assume that it was all coming from the storm they knew of. 

Technically they could have continued on through the night a while and arrived at the Society at something more of a convenient hour, but the thought of the phantasm chasing them down in the pitch black was more than enough to put the suggestion to rest. And this place was likely the safest from torrential showers or any fragmentations of the storm that might be flung their way. At least, the chances were low that tomorrow morning wasn't going to be as dry as these slopes were now, and they didn't exactly have much shelter to rely on if nature stated otherwise. While their light continued to fade behind the heightened horizon, Panne got to looking for a decent place to set up camp among the mountainside, preferably not one entirely in the open. 

It wasn't until they came across a granite cliff rising beside the road that she would find a satisfactory answer to to where they would be staying until the sun came around again. There was only a few feet of ground between the sheer face and the well-worn path, leaving little room for many trees to grow and even less for them to flourish, yet there were a few that dared to seek a life among the rock wall. She had eventually stopped them near a collapsed tree, one that challenged this narrow stretch and obviously didn't quite survive. The Servine seemed too tired to express any objections toward the idea, mostly just thankful to have a place to rest and listen to the distant rumbling. 

In a faction of the time it would take for them to go out and gather the fuel themselves, Panne had peeled away enough of the dead bark to have quite the respectable fire in no time. All that was left was to dig out a spot in the ground which could contain the flames, and as thin as the grasses were up here, this process was similarly swift even without asking for Val's help. With most of the twilight being obscured by a packed sky, the Braixen didn't hesitate long to set forth bright sparks into the deep of the pile and take the deep breaths necessary to turn that potential into heat. It was as she had done many time times before and will probably continue to do for most of her life. But with a comfortable fire being born within seconds, what was there to argue against? 

With the chill of a high altitude night descending around them and just beyond their tiny refuge of heat, they could finally take more enthusiastic swigs of their canteens and dig into the strange selection of berries she had packed away, though most weren't too appetizing and had clashing flavors anyway. It was safe enough at least that she could exhale most of the tension that had been dragging on her shoulders, but only most. In between drifting thoughts the Braixen would still fret about the way she had changed over the years while in Vallion's loving company. It didn't necessarily bother her much that she was weaker without him, but the way he was now shouldn't have had the kind of impact it did last night. There was no excuse, and even now it ate away at her. 

Silence persisted between them as the reserves of food ran dry and the only thing left to do was guide their stares away from one another. It wasn't really the case that they were trying to hide from the Spiritomb or anything, or that they were being wary of anything in particular. He was still a little distant from her is all, and probably mentally preparing for the deluge of stimuli that would come tomorrow upon reaching the city. But everything was alright. She didn't need that interaction to feel okay, and it would be stupid to expect him to close that distance after how unstable she's demonstrated to be. There weren't any good conversations to even have while they waited for an ominous sound to ring in the distance now that their visibility was ruined. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to lie to herself for much longer after tomorrow. 

"What are we going to do about this thing that's following me?" 

It took several moments for Panne to even realize she was being spoken to, almost assuming she imagined his voice herself in the crackling of the fire. "Oh, uh. I'm not so sure how we're going to get at it. Especially with the way it ignores everyone but you, since I certainly haven't heard it speak since the only time I fought with it, and I've been around you the most. There just isn't going to be an easy way to draw it into the open again without putting you in danger." She sighed between her words, scowling at the surrounding night and believing the glare to strike true at its target. "That's only a long-term goal, anyway-- dealing with the Spiritomb. It's not going to let us fight it in any traditional sense without having some sort of brutal advantage over us already. We're pretty much forced to wait for it to make the first move, it can keep all the distance it wants otherwise." 

"Am I putting other people in danger by being near them?" his voice was too calm. She hated that noble look in his eyes as he said it, mimicked by the fire's reflection. It was the kind that would totally justify self-sacrifice should a situation ever come to such an extreme. In the back of the Braixen's mind, she wondered why it was an expression she could no longer make. 

Panne bit her tongue purposefully. "Probably not. At least, it didn't try to pull anything back at the village, where that kind of dirty trick would be at its most impactful. And where we're going, that stupid thing wouldn't dare try to hurt someone and think about getting away with it. The Exploration Society isn't just a bunch of nerds looking at maps all day. We don't have a record for playing by the same cowardly rules it does." 

Her words didn't do much to wipe that brave defiance from his face. "Okay. I just wanted to know if my staying in the city would have gotten people hurt for no reason. If the Society can handle a threat like this, then that's okay." 

"Technically I'm supposed to do a report on this whole event and turn it in as soon as possible to the city's law enforcement, too. Pretty much everything that Spiritomb did is written somewhere in law as a 'national threat'-- or basically something that sets off an 'oh my god we're all screwed' kind of alert. They're supposed send out warning to other towns that something is seriously going wrong somewhere, and to bunker down while we beat the problem into a pulp." Panne kept her eyes on the places where the fire's light tapered the most, searching for that smoky air she had seen twice before. The damn thing was lucky there wasn't a moon out tonight. "It doesn't really seem tough enough right now to elicit that kind of reaction, does it?" 

"What would the police do to a spectral blob of evil once they caught it? Put it in a cage?" Vallion mused, his own attention directed solely at watching the flames dance. At least he didn't seem too distraught about his pursuer, but the Servine was probably in one of his selfless moods again. The first of this new set of memories he'd been developing, unable to know just how common it was for him to place himself before others and get hurt. She couldn't let the mood progress any further, it'd just be too dangerous. 

"Ghost types aren't exactly impossible to capture and detain, you know. You stick them in a keystone and figure out what to do with them later. Although, this one is way too large to fit into anything we have, or possibly anyone else has on the planet right now. I saw the keystone it came out of, and besides being taller than me, it was practically slathered with runes and rites nobody would even recognize anymore. I don't think the Spiritomb has much a mind for prisons, anyway." 

Vallion did not stop his brooding, and thus came another lull where he was likely engrossed with the very thoughts she was trying to prevent. This quiet was far more acceptable than the last, as now she had her own agonizing thoughts to keep her company. Of course the Spiritomb was going to try to hurt others. It had sifted through the Servine's dreams and heart for long enough, there was no way it didn't understand what actions would force his reckless reaction. All it had to do was threaten enough innocent lives and he would go running into the forest alone and practically hand over his soul. They didn't even know what cruel things it would do with the power of a human soul and he'd probably still confront the thing. But despite all that, the lie she told still ached where it had left the tip of her tongue. 

Was it really so bad to be making sure he didn't do anything heroic and stupid? She knew him more than even he did, so was it manipulation to cover the corners of his eyes and push him forward like that? More so, the nagging question rose if this was something she would have done several years ago when she apparently wasn't so dire for affection... No, it definitely wouldn't have gone this way. The old Panne would tell the truth, then have enough faith in him to support his decisions and follow them to the end together. How dangerous this entity that was after him wasn't enough to justify her own desperation. 

That factor of danger was probably one of the few reasons Vallion trusted her so fully in the first place. So far it hadn't even made an attempt to stow away its treacherous nature, the vile things it whispers into his ears without any guise of a saccharine or desperate tone. There would be no mistaking it for a misunderstood entity trying to reach out for help. It was sheer malice that had been trapped fermenting in a black sedimentary prison for far too many years. National threat was likely an understatement if this thing, which was possibly hundreds of insane souls crushed together into an individual entity that could maintain form, got its hands on something as decisive as a human soul. Hell, most mythical beings that ranked well in the cosmic hierarchy would probably want it gone at that point. Especially since it could manipulate the patterns of Unown like it did. 

The Braixen looked back down to the excited lapping of the fire and slowly sighed through her nose. In retrospect, it was better and safer for everyone to betray Vallion's trust. It kept incredible powers away from a font of hatred and made absolutely certain that her lover was one-hundred percent safe from temptation. It didn't matter how much better she would feel should the truth leak past her lips if his death was the eventual result. This was a hurt she'd have to live with, at least until Vallion regained his memories and could understand better. Shame she couldn't just binge satisfaction from being in a tragic role like he could. It'd make things a whole lot easier to bear. 

Ugh. All this inner turmoil, and just because she told a little white lie so that he wouldn't get into trouble whenever she wasn't looking. Panne glanced over to the Servine as if prepared to whisper an apology below his hearing, only to find that he had already curled up and shut his eyes in the comfortable proximity of the fire. How he could even think about going to bed with evil possibly looming in the distance was beyond her. It was impossible to be sure he was actually asleep and not just resting his eyes, but she prayed regardless that he had fallen under and was in the midst of a pleasant dream. At least one of them was going to get some sleep tonight. Between the unending stream of useless introspection and not wanting to risk letting the Spiritomb anywhere near him while they were in the open, the Braixen had relinquished the thought entirely. 

How could she even hope to sleep on a night like this? Even if the physical things the entity could do to them were limited, she feared more than just a choking gas and some disorientation. Surely the creature on its own wouldn't stand too much of a chance against her area-controlling abilities. But the Spiritomb had supposedly waited a thousand years to break free of its prison, and now that it was finally out, it seemingly continued to just.. wait. The most it had done was loom over Vallion in his sleep since the ritual had failed. Patience was one of the most dangerous things an enemy like this could have. After all, with such an enormous time spent trapped, how hard could it be to bide a few more insignificant months? To hesitate until she faltered the slightest amount and let the Servine slip away just an inch too far? It had infinitely more time than they did, and while the Society was undoubtedly a safe place to be, they would need more than artifacts and experience to outlast a patient hand. Right now, Vallion was more vulnerable than he's ever been. 

That being said, it was hard to feel that urgency when she continued to be bombarded with concentrated amounts of absolutely nothing. If anything, things became almost too peaceful when her mind zoned out and only the quiet mountainside remained. There was nothing in the air that even felt threatening, and Val didn't seem to be stirring like a nightmare was gripping him at all. The only thing that seemed immediately disconcerting was that the fire had shrunk a considerable amount from when she had first conjured it. Remedying such an issue was as easy as merely pushing away her idle worries and pushing to a stand. After cautiously checking behind the nearby fallen tree that had made this spot stand out, she searched along its mossy surface for a notch by which to pull a chunk of tinder away. 

Upon finding a loose strip beneath the bark, which seemed like damage the log sustained after its initial fall, Panne dug her claws beneath as far as it would allow and pulled. She was careful at first, but after finding the piece to be especially resilient, steadily began to add more might to her arms and posture. Yet even then the strip of wood hardly budged from its trunk and served only to hurt the tips of her fingers. Upon the second try after a few moments of recovery, not even placing a foot on the log and pushing off could muster the leverage necessary to pry the piece away. She could have probably just walked around the tree and searched for a different target to tear firewood from, as she surely hadn't found every easy chunk of fuel on the first run through, but all the accumulated frustrations of today screamed in her ear that this little notch was as evil as their source. She wasn't going to sit back down until this inanimate object was thoroughly conquered. 

The Braixen's misdirected anger would only compound as the strip refused to budge no matter what position she took. Swears accompanied sequences of strained grunts as she put all her weight and strength into pulling apart this small section of tree, hoping with every moment that the wood would give away with a crack and she'd at least have a small victory. But that triumph would never come, and her efforts actually decreased with the pain and splinters inhibiting her grip. For a brief second she considered warping the wood into submission by bathing the crevice in flames, but that fury fell more quickly to reason on account that this tree was supposed to last her the whole night. To save her bruised fingers from much more trouble, a different technique would have to be decided upon. 

Among other psychic types, she wasn't nearly as practiced or as efficient at telekinesis. Talented, sure, but these kinds of powers were meant for the latest stages of her species' life. So as Panne got into position for hopefully the last time and dug her nails behind the sharp edge of peeling bark, it was with a pang of determination that her conscious extend past her arms and into that notch. Having had to calm herself to even have stable psychic abilities, it became increasingly conspicuous that she was just being silly, but that futility quickly fell to the background as both physical and mental muscle were flexed and the pull had begun. The pressure faltered as her breathing did, yet her mind gripped behind the notch again and redoubled upon her efforts. It was more a game of exploding the wood from the trunk than to salvage more fuel for the flame. 

There soon indeed was a kind of explosion, just not the one she would have first expected. The Braixen's eyes shot wide open as something shifted in the forefront of her brain, and suddenly this random tree that had fallen beside a mountain path was a tangled mess of memory and texture. The normal sensation of 'touch' her telekinesis offered was drastically enhanced for a split second, where it was like she was physically running her hands over the entire rugged surface at once. After that dazed revelation came the actual explosion, where her eyes shut tight again and a mighty crack filled the air, sending her flying backwards and colliding with the hard ground. The burst of pain in her temples and the disorienting landing were at first drowned out by the confusion of what had just crashed through her mind. 

As her sense of direction returned, the first thing Panne did was look towards Vallion and make certain she hadn't accidentally woke him with the echoing noise. While he did shift around for a few brief moments in unease, he somehow managed to shake off the noise as if it were just another bump in the night and became still again. She only had a few moments to be glad before the realization of her fresh migraine set in and pain replaced the feeling outright. It seemed from then that the sound might have mostly been in her own head, but that was with a much more worrying consequence than waking the Servine up. Hemorrhaging to death after trying to pull at a piece of wood would be a really lame way for someone of her combative ability to die. The tiny laugh brewing in her chest became a cough while trying to slip by an itch in her throat, one that was made extremely painful inside her aching skull. 

Looking back at the tree, the results were far greater than she would have otherwise expected, as well. Rather than just a tenacious chunk of wood not much larger than her forearm, a fourth of the entire trunk had seemed to have splintered off from the rest and now barely hung from near the upturned roots, revealing the pale inner flesh of the wood that was untouched by the elements from deeper within. It was no wonder why her ears were ringing. Carrying a torch while moving was one thing, rolling a small boulder away was talent, but fracturing a quarter of a decently-sized tree with a random spike of power? It had to be the type of wood, or that there was already an imperfection in the trunk that she dug into and accidentally exploited. 

Regardless, Panne and her migraine could salvage plenty of firewood from the massive split. It was true enough that the wood itself was pretty soft even to its core, though there was no reason it should have come apart like that if her mediocre telekinesis was anything to go off of. The gentle fire, which had been dying the entire time she battled with all her might against a jutting shard of wood, was revitalized fully and with plenty to spare. There was more than enough left over to split into smaller parts and keep beside her seat as makeshift wands, just in case the Spiritomb tried to make a move and needed a little extra heat to be deflected. With so much time left she'd have to spend in darkness, this waiting game may very well end in violence before she knew it. 

Yet aside from the ache in her temples and the more intense crackling in the firepit, everything had returned to its surprisingly peaceful state once she settled back down. It was an uncomfortable enough amount of pain that she found it necessary to lay backwards into the short grass and stare up into the abyss. There were at least plenty of stars dotting the emptiness to keep her company, twinkling a little more brightly than usual despite it being a moonless night. She might as well trace constellations in the sky if they were pretty much all she would be seeing until the dawn came and washed them all away. Boredom wasn't going to be the thing that killed her tonight, at least. Though that would have been a different story a few years in the past. The Panne in the midst of her world map would have been driven mad by a dull task like this. Oh, where did all that energy go? 

Laying down eventually allowed the headache to meld into her sinuses and put pressure on the back of her eyes. While it was increasingly annoying, she wouldn't have to worry too much about accidentally falling asleep. Still, it made her anxious all the same to feel anything remotely close to a head cold after what the enslaved Gengar had done to her. It would probably take a few months for her to stop being so on-edge with that kind of thing, and if she really did catch a cold in that time, the panic that followed would be ridiculous. Scouring the entire compound for strange shadows before she went to bed might just become part of the routine altogether. Vallion would have to.. No, he wouldn't. He didn't really have the mind to care all that much right now. 

She didn't have much of an opportunity to start lamenting a dormant relationship as a cough rose to her throat and wracked her head with pain. And again. And once more, with Panne shooting back up to a sitting position and glaring forward. The sinus pain stayed upon correcting her posture, even managing to get a little worse. Was she literally getting a cold? Was it her imagination? It shouldn't have access to these kinds of afflictions. "You don't have a Gengar to control anymore, you can't still do this!" she whispered viciously to the darkness, and swore that a distant, rumbling chuckle came back in response. Everything froze but the dancing fire and the gentle rise and fall of Val's side. 

Needless to say, the Braixen did not try to count the stars after that. The symptoms didn't seem to get much worse in the following minutes, yet they didn't fade, either. She was reminded that their previously inactive follower was not the kind to ever grow relaxed around. The fact that she felt sickness in her head at all brought enough terror to her speeding heart that the symptoms could be ignored entirely, coughs only being brought to fruition when her throat absolutely insisted. There was no explanation besides that it might have been the Spiritomb's power all along, but that was impossible. It was the puppets which were supposed to hypnotize rather than the entity itself. Wasn't that why it stole their wills in the first place? Panne took hold at a nearby piece of tinder and clutched it close with both hands, eyeing the granite wall behind Vallion as if hands would shoot out and steal him away at any second. And thus, another round of the waiting game had begun.


	8. Streetlights and Change

Though it took no time at all for night to set in over the road and countrysides, their pace had only quickened to match."We're almost there, it's not much farther," Panne's voice had been reduced to a wheeze, her exhaustion evident even as their feet came swiftly down onto cobblestone. Finally, after such a long trip made in a single grueling continuation of consciousness, the city they had sought after was waiting just beyond the horizon. The signs of civilization were already apparent, as where the blanket of clouds began to turn their darkest, a peculiar brightness continued shining up from below the hills. She was glad to reach the city no matter how dark it had become, for her feet dragged and her chest felt hollow from sleeplessness and exertion. The only way to keep the heaviness at bay was to sigh it away into the wind. She needed a rest now more than anyone could possibly know. 

Despite the descending night, the city somehow provided enough light to be reflected back down into the countrysides and swathe them in almost a moonlight of sorts. Scattered buildings and farms that would otherwise be lost to the darkness dotted the fields seemingly at random beyond the city limits, just barely visible in the overcast dusk. More seldom were the guards patrolling along the far territories to ensure the safety of the roads, though they were closer to sentries than brawny inner-city defenders. Some had even recognized and greeted them as they passed- but she was far too tired to respond with any enthusiasm, and Vallion was busy fidgeting in anticipation.. 

The main road branched off ahead, an unassuming path leading to a scenic point which Panne recalled to be particularly amazing. What better way to introduce such a vast place than a view of it from afar? It was a decision she made in the moment to lead them from the main path onto a dirt road that seemed to only hold a set of wooden steps. While sudden and unapparent at first glance, the turn certainly wasn't made in vain. "When we first came to Lively Town-" she breathily began, "-the entire place was just a colorful speck in the distance. Pretty large and bustling for a settlement, sure, but it wasn't much more impressive than the any other. The largest gathering of pokemon at the time was all the way in the heart of the Mist Continent, and was only so big because most of the land was uninhabitable by foreign species anyway. Now, though, this colorful speck would dwarf that achievement three times over." 

Soon enough, the ground beneath their feet transitioned from mud to wooden planks hammered into the ground and held in place by grassroots. It was strenuous to even make such a mundane climb after their journey, yet Panne had hatched a temporary plan. "With the distance you'll see up here, just imagine.. ah.. a spot only a few inches across as far as you can see. Those few inches are what this city used to be. It might be a little hard with how dark it is, but you should get the picture anyways." As she was the first to reach the top step and crest the hill, she first witnessed the lonely wooden bench facing an overlook of such brilliance that it could replicate a moon’s glow to the surrounding land. The view didn't quite register to her until she turned to see the Servine's face as he caught his first glimpse of Lively City. Only then did she feel the true immensity of the view at hand. 

Hundreds of tiny white lights twinkled across the distance like stars on land, fitting for something that could give moonlight to a skyless night. More lamps still were obscured behind the shadows of buildings and urban hills, yet their presence was obvious in the spectacular aura which surrounded the city. Dark silhouettes of rectangles rose and fell with the land's slopes, but the buildings never became any less straight. Only the clouds directly above the culmination of lights were at their brightest. The rest, which were too little in number to completely smother the entire eastern night sky, passed over the razor edge above the ocean which still had a purple tinge. Between here and the bastion of civilization were plenty more scattered houses planted seemingly at random, and if she strained her eyes enough, the shadowed skeletons of houses that had yet to be completed. The wind carried the scent of wet grass and an extremely faint twinge of hot food. 

"Eight years did a lot to this place," Panne knew the sight well, yet still was nearly breathless from both its majesty and her own fatigue. She leaned against the raindrop-covered bench to continue without fighting her lungs for air. "It didn't even used to be a quarter of this, once. But more people came to live here, coming overseas to make the soup of ideas and skills even bigger. Now when you look at it, you can't.. you can't even imagine.. god, I'm tired." As she lowered her gaze to the hill beneath their feet and felt the journey catch up to her, but Vallion stared on at the cityscape in sheer awe. In the short life he could recall, it had to be the most spectacular thing he had ever seen with his own eyes. The Braixen might have explained for a little longer how such a thing came to be if it her breathing hadn’t taken so much effort. 

"It's beautiful..." the Servine muttered, a breeze nearly blowing his voice away in her ears. The tension he had been obsessing over already looked to melt away in the face of such a glittering sight. Personally, she was just happy they were able to make it back at all. Their pursuer hadn't had the chance to catch them out in the open, and now it had even less power in the midst of such a populated and defended land. Soon they would eventually enter somewhere filled with powerful adventurers who could feasibly dispel the demon for good. They had won for the moment, and in it they would find the answers to what had happened with Vallion during that horrible ritual. Then, she would sleep for an extremely long time. 

Panne beckoned to him after a while and began her labored trudge back down the stairs. After one final glance, he quickly managed to catch up with her and followed down to the muddy path at the bottom. Though his expression of amazement stuck in her thoughts like the afterimage of streetlights dancing in her eyes, the rest of her insides felt cold and hollow in addition to the gnawing hunger. There were many things that had to be said and done before she could finally meet these needs and curl up to pass out in a warm bed. Hoping that the importance of their arrival would keep her awake for at least the coming meeting of Hydreigon, her feet found inlaid stone again. 

More guards walked along the damp road as they entered the suburbs, these ones typically of a larger and more intimidating species, though harmlessly familiar all the same. The system usually had it that quicker pokemon-- or pokemon who could make clear signals from afar-- waited on the farthest outskirts of the city, watching for trouble so that they could warn the rest of the guard. Unfortunately for them, trouble seldom actually appeared anywhere but the twisting streets and alleys that made up the city's innards. Most must have been bored out of their minds. It had been around two years since the last bandit attack, and with how scattered and disorganized it was, the excitement hadn't lasted long. There were simply better places to raid that weren't brimming with possible retaliation. Even in these seemingly harmless suburbs, there was too much open distance to sneak a proper assault force close to the bulk of the population. Unfortunately for her, that huge area which kept the city safe only lengthened their journey and spurred more hallucinations from her unfocused eyes. 

That final march at least became far more tangible when they were finally touched by the light of the farthest streetlamp on the very corner of the city. What had once been a chaotic puzzle of cobble beneath their feet became a brick pattern carefully measured and aligned, shimmering with wetness as they moved by. Vallion continued to stare at these fresh sights with mouth agape, seemingly unaffected by the weight of unknowing he assumed would afflict him the whole way through. Yet it was only the outer district they were passing through at the moment, which was ultimately just a bunch of dark buildings on slopes and some alleyways that lead to nowhere. It was a mere shell to contain the energy that flowed through the center like the heart of a beast. He would behold most extremes of the city regardless, as the Society was beyond it all. 

Despite the steep hill this part of town was built upon, the expert stonework refused to allow anything other than the street itself to be unlevel. Panne felt the tendons in her legs complain about the angles they tackled, too close to their destination to rest but still too far to get her hopes up. All she could do was merely concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other while imagining the grids which made up every block and intersection, trying to find the shortest route to the compound through this winding maze of masonry. The only thing between here and those vital answers they’ve been needing were wet bricks. 

"How do they do it?" the Servine spoke up, his voice bouncing from the surrounding buildings. "I mean, how can all of these lights be powered? What is it that's giving them the electricity in the first place, and how can they power so many at once? Is it like this every night?" 

"Slow down there, Val. I thought you were supposed to be nervous," she replied, bearing a pang of hunger as the wafting scent of street vendors wove through the town and to her nostrils. Both the smell and her appetite only grew more potent as they turned a corner. "You probably won't see it anytime soon, but there's a massive power plant to the west of the city. Most electric types who live in-limits end up working there, though there's always some exceptions. From that main plant and creeping all over the place is a web of underground cables that can go even as far as some of the individual houses in the hills. There are ground types that maintain those, but I'm not really an expert on these kinds of things in the first place, so don't take my word too seriously." 

Infrequently, drops of rain that had been suspended on the leaves of trimmed trees and the gutters of dark walls would gently impact against the ground as they walked by. The scents which enticed and pained her so were carried all the way from downtown and beyond, as were the few pokemon they walked past who seemed to be charging home for the night. Some held umbrellas only recently shortened that were kept at the ready just in case the clouds decided to perpetuate the downpour. Overhead came an occasional flapping or buzz from those who could take flight, likely seeking to make a few hurried errands before the rain returned. It was a miracle she had actually managed to weave in between showers and arrive at the city with the tops of their heads dry, though there was no telling how long that fortune would last. 

On the turn of a corner came a much more enthusiastic clamoring just above them, the flying type suddenly frantic for whatever reason. A nasally voice came down with the struggle against gravity, trying to get their attention sounding. "Hey you two! What are you guys doing out here so late? I thought you took a vacation to get away from the city, hm?" Murkrow spun around in the air to redirect her course and catch up with them, forgetting completely about the weather they were trying to dodge. 

"Long story, Murkrow. Sorry," Panne had the honors of turning them away before they could begin chattering indefinitely. This was no time to stop and have a lengthy conversation, much less with someone who could gossip for hours on their own. "Anyways, it's an emergency. We really need to get going." 

"Ooh, what's the emergency? I certainly haven't heard of anything going awry, and it had to take you two some time to get back over here. Did something happen up at the Society? Who forced you to end your vacations so early? I tell you, if my boss had me cut my hard-earned days off like this, I wouldn't have any of it!" The bird kept pace with them, flapping her wings an incredible amount to stay afloat at their slow speeds. 

To the Braixen's surprise, Vallion spoke up before she could. "Like she said, it's a long story. We really don't have the time right now." It wasn't much, but the fact that he would tread on ice he didn't know the thickness of was startling. Maybe he was just following in her deflection and she was overreacting again, but if it were her in his place, she'd be paranoid of most anyone that spoke fondly to them. After all, what if they were somebody important and she said something wrong or out of place? 

It didn't fail, regardless. "Aww. It's always your guys' little club that turns down every opportunity for a chat. Even when you don't, it's always work work work and nothing fun. I'll just have to find out later, then." As Murkrow flew off and left them to the puddles and cold, Panne couldn't help but keep biting her tongue like the encounter hadn't yet ended. It should have been obvious for her not to hold Val back anymore, that there was no use in babying him or keeping him to herself, but still something about it instilling a fear that tensed her back muscles. She hated the little meetings with people he no longer knew, that uncertainty of how either of them would react to one another. Her sigh was drowned out by the sounds of activity and excitement just beyond the next few blocks. There would surely be more who recognized them as they passed through the marketplace, even at a time like this. 

It was a place that cared very little for time, yet was a slave to it and feared it nonetheless. Joining the white lamps in reflecting off the drenched roads were plentiful other lights and colors that seemed to shine in defiance of the night sky. Pokemon spoke and yelled to one another with a similar regard, most were species that wouldn't even live on the Water Continent in the first place. Above the streets and in windows were the signs of countless businesses, illuminated by strange hybrids of lantern and bulb like the city hadn't completely made the transition to electricity yet. Graphic designs were painted to catch eyes, scents were made to flood into the street and attract appetites, and among the crowds were charismatic individuals who sought to sell a product or direct possible patrons to the right place. If there could be such a thing as an artificially created mystery dungeon, these streets were the closest thing ever conceived. Always changing, never sleeping, a force of nature. 

Vallion was expectantly dazed by the torrential flood of stimuli, likely unsure of where to look when everywhere was bright and noticeable. She knew these sights well by now, and unfortunately, most of which were painfully attractive right about now. The food vendors and restaurants who flaunted their flavors to the air were always difficult to pass without batting an eye, even more so now since she was running on a few berries . Her headache which was brought out by lack of sleep also had many cures that were merely a door and a few steps away, though the ones that involved alcohol would more than likely knock her to the floor at this point. If there hadn't been such an urgency to their step, she might have actually showed the Servine around these eternal parts of the city. There was much less of a personal attachment to these ever-changing streets than to the quaint pathways of Serene Village, so she'd have no problem in giving a tour this time. That and she'd very much prefer to fill her stomach before collapsing in a bed. 

Luckily enough, most of the pokemon who would recognize them and seek to start a conversation were already preoccupied, or didn't notice them outright as they sped through the marketplace. Though a vast majority of those on the streets could tell their faces and scars at a glance and recall some of their deeds, it wouldn't cost her more than a few wayward stares at worst. She had always preferred it this way, especially now. They needed to be at the Society as soon as possible, and she couldn't have Vallion getting swamped by constant awkward interaction just before meeting the most vital piece of his puzzle. Even after a full day of nothing but walking, this was a little much for someone who's technically never seen anything beyond a tiny collection of houses and a school. 

They were nearly through now, but with the abundance of fresh food and thick crowds along the streets, a warmth had begun soaking into her fur in a most torturous way. The resulting drowsiness was annoying to endure, but something she had been dealing with all day anyway. Once they had taken a turn onto a darker street, however, the true cold of night crept back into the breeze and helped to ward away the feeling. It was just around the block now, not even a minute from the great docks that held dozens of ships at a time. She could easily abandon the lingering hope of dinner in her nose with what was to come in just a short while. And on top of that mental preparation, she could feel tiny droplets begin to fall from the sky as they had all afternoon over the city. There was no use in getting wet now when they were already so close to making it while dry. 

There was no mistaking the compound, even with the grandiose description she had originally given back at the village. The Expedition Society practically loomed over them in comparison to the other buildings they had slipped between. Even in the past when it was much smaller, the impression it gave remained the same. Its windows brightly contrasted against the sullen darkness all the way up to the dome at the very top. Though the Servine couldn't read the sign, he didn't need much more emphasis to know where it was they had arrived. 

"Welcome back, Val," Panne tried to begin, but was forced to clear her throat due to the immediate raspiness. So much for a dramatic introduction. "To the Expedition Society, I mean. It's a lot more impressive than it used to be, and twice as big as before-- or at least something close to that. At first we made most of our money by being an organized rescue team, but now the entire front of the building was fixed into a museum to display the artifacts we've uncovered from all over the world. And on top of that, there's been plans on building out again and making this place the first official university of geography and astrology. As official as those channels can get, anyway. It'll be more than just the usual apprentices and books." 

Vallion's preparatory breath was audible above the rest of the city's sounds. Without any further hesitation or gawking, he took off past the gate and towards the glowing entrance. "No use in waiting then, huh? It's going to start raining soon, and I'm not getting any of my memories back by standing around out here," his voice had lost its airy amazement, instead finding again the same anxious quiver that existed before he had been taken aback by the sight of Lively City from afar. "Let's get all this out of the way. I'm never going to be any more prepared for it." 

While she was more than just familiar with the compound, Panne couldn't help but feel his apprehension mutually as she hurried to catch up before he plunged through the front door by himself. Or perhaps it was her own insides that were churning, reacting to the imminent presence of the Hydreigon who might finally unravel this terrible mystery. The final few steps she spent thinking about how close they could be to getting her Vallion back once and for all. Regardless of what went through either of their heads, they stepped from the fresh night and rainy smells into a bright heat. She was so used to the scent of dust and old that it nearly didn't register to her nose at all. 

"Oh! You guys are finally back!" Immediately upon their entry, a voice rang out from behind the polished receptionist desk before them. The Kadabra stood up, her response so quick that she had to have been waiting for their arrival this whole time. "The Hydreigon is here, Ampharos has been waiting to put the three of you together for hours now. Are you alright, Vallion?" 

"I don't know," he quickly replied in a monotone, staring up at the vaulted ceiling and allowing his eyes to wander further towards the exhibits. The silence which followed held no promise of a further response. 

The Braixen had already begun to push him onward, especially adverse to the Kadabra's usual enthusiasm towards him. "Got it. We'll get to them as soon as possible." While it dipped into the same pettiness she tried to kill off from herself in the idle lengths of last night, a very vocal part of her mind still refused to trust the pokemon around Val. Surely if she herself couldn't even strike at his heart, it'd be impossible for them to even get close, but it was a worry she nonetheless acknowledged as she dragged the Servine through the lines of rope and into the exhibits. 

"Uh, oh. A- Alright!" Kadabra had called out from behind, though they were both already well beyond her range of voice from behind that desk. It seemed kind of harsh for the Braixen to have been so quick to tear them away now, maybe they were just worried- No, there was no time to obsess over this. They were finally here, wasting even more of the night banging her head against mundane interactions was going to hurt Vallion more than it would her. But even so, he no longer seemed to have the same eagerness to charge forth as he did at the front gate, slowing way down and actually taking his time to absorb the history that was kept in just this first chamber. They probably should have used the side entrance now that she was thinking about it. 

"Do-.. Am I really supposed to know about all this?" the Servine whispered, halting entirely to glance at a stone tablet covered in ancient writing from behind a glass case. The pedestal at the front would have described what the rugged piece of wall said, yet he frowned in acknowledgement that both languages were completely foreign to him. "Is everything in this room something I should be familiar with? Should I be recalling a grand adventure deep in some ruins for each one of these?" 

"Not all of them. We didn't personally collect every single object you can see in this exhibit. Sure, some of them are ours, but we were generally working more as a rescue team than as archaeologists." Her hand graced over the thick plastic protecting the display's text, yet she could very well just have looked up at the tablet and read it with her innate understanding. "This thing was found by Bunnelby in the wall of a clay cliff in the Grass Continent, not too far from some ruins. He isn't really a part of the Society anymore since he ran off to start a family, so if you wanted to actually learn about the trip, you'd have to write him a letter." 

He continued to squint at the worn text on the tablet to no avail, seemingly trying desperately to will some sort of memory into existence. "What does it say?" 

"It's actually part of a prophecy that likely involved the old temple that was nearby. We can't tell much from this excerpt other than it involving an avian pokemon who would ride on a hurricane and sweep across the land, flooding it to death. It's easy enough to assume that the prophecy was talking about Lugia, but this great flood it warns of probably already happened if this thing is as old as we think it is. Grass does get a nasty storm or two every few years, but they've never really turned the place into a wasteland. Who knows, eh?" 

It was impossible to tell how long the Servine shifted his glare around the room. There wasn't a shortage of curious things to stare at, as that was kind of the point of this entire section of the building. Each artifact had a different meaning to him than it would to a tourist, who couldn't possibly have a personal connection to anything here. Nobody else could take this tour and feel like there was something terribly important missing from what was on display. Panne didn't have the heart to pull him away from his trance. It's not as if they had any farther to walk, they were already inside the Society itself. Besides, this was probably something important for him to absorb before beginning the whole Hydreigon business and plunging into another abstract topic. 

Had a call not echoed from the other side of the room, she would have never thought the silence would end. Panne turned, watching Floatzel finish waving from the far wall and scurry towards them on all fours. As he reached them and stood back up, Vallion finally tore his eyes away from a collection of fossils to hear what was being said. "There you two are! I was starting to get worried that something happened along the way and you couldn't call. I wasn't far from taking off down the main road and trying to find you myself." 

Panne gave a sigh. They finally did make it, didn't they? That route felt a lot more intense with a deathly spirit breathing down their necks. "It was a long trip, and things took even longer from being tired and hungry. I think most of the delay was just me holding us both back." 

"Ah, but you're here now, and that's what counts. You do look a little more worse for wear than usual, though," Floatzel noted before turning to the Servine and exchanging eye-contact for the first time. They held it for an awkward amount of time, seemingly gathering something from one another for its duration before the water type nodded. "Right then. Vallion, how have you been feeling in regards to the Society? Has anything even slightly rung a bell since you left Serene Village?" 

As always, he shook his head to the contrary. "No. It's all new, no matter what it is or where we are. Nothing's changed." 

"That really is a shame. But, I suppose that's why we had pokemon scatter across the world looking for a single dragon type, isn't it? Come on, the Hydreigon isn't going to stand waiting much longer. Trust me." With a flick of his arm, Floatzel beckoned for them to follow and twisted back around from where he came. Panne found her legs had turned stiff after standing still for so long, and Vallion had quickly passed her as they pressed on deeper into the compound. 

She forced her muscles to obey, picking up speed until she could lean into the Floatzel's ear and deliver her message. "We've been followed, by the way. Try not to let your guard too far down, and make sure nobody else does, either. I don't know what this Spiritomb is going to do with Vallion around." 

"Wait, seriously?" he muttered back, though a little louder than she would have cared for. "It's still coming after you? I thought you were able to get rid of it, and this thing that's happened with Vallion was just a consequence afterward." A huff was pushed from his nose as they crossed a doorway into the main building. "Alright. That's not too bad. You two managed to get back here without anything too terrible happening, right? It probably won't do anything too drastic.. Err, is there anything specific we should be looking out for that a little surveillance wouldn't cover? I tried to get some more out of you over the first call, but you kind of skipped over everything else and went straight for sobbing about how Vallion's memories had been stolen." 

"It shouldn't be able to do much, there's.. ah, well.. I don't know. I don't know what it can still do," Panne stumbled over her words, caring far less to keep them quiet. "If anyone starts to feel like they're getting a head cold, make sure they know to get to safety, and preferably somewhere they aren't alone. I'm not entirely sure what the Spiritomb can do on its own anymore, but it's best not to risk finding out and letting something like what happened to Val happen to someone else. If there's a smoke cloud that seems too thick to be normal and makes you feel uneasy to even look at, you probably shouldn’t stick around there for much longer." 

They moved up the staircase to the second floor with an intensity like the ghost was just around the corner, though she felt safer now within these walls than she had been in days. Crossing the horizon of the top step revealed the iridescent blue globe spinning slowly in the center of the hall, shimmering gently as Connection Orbs always had. Aside from its hum, the rest of the Society had been shrouded in a deathly silence all the way up to this point. They were wading through palpable anticipation that wasn't just their own, but everyone's who had been waiting for them to arrive. If Kadabra's initial reaction was any indicator, the matter of Vallion's memories has been resting on everyone's tongues, and their late showing was certainly not helping with the pressure at all. She could only pray that they might have the solution on just the first night back. But even then, what could this Hydreigon know that they hadn't tried? 

This whole journey here she spent sleepless, all of the horrid waiting and contemplation they spent in the village, and all of the whispered prayers that fell from her tongue in the background so that she might not have to be lonely for much longer-- all of it mounted her shoulders as they stepped through into Ampharos' office. The Braixen saw past the clutter of the room and the Society members already present, focusing in on the huge form of a levitating dragon pacing listlessly back and forth in the back. What remained between her and over eight years of love and adventure was that single pokemon's knowledge, and so her eyes bore down on them without hesitation. 

"Ah, it seems they've arrived!" Ampharos turned from the Hydreigon and let relief seep past his lips. Mawile looked up from a mess of papers and gave a tired smile, but she was the only one who looked at the both of them equally. Everyone else tried to peer right through her to see the meek Servine who had been lagging behind, the source of all the tension which made the air too thick to swallow. He didn't seem to shrink away, but she could tell that the weight of the room affected him. Most of all, she hated most how they all looked at him like he was a different person. 

Before the dragon type in the back could make their curious approach, Ampharos stepped between them and the Servine, reaching out for an attempted handshake. Vallion at first tried using his vestigial hands to return the gesture, quickly shaking away the habit and instead extending a vine to perform the task. As they shook, the Society's leader took the time to speak up. "It's nice to finally meet you, Vallion. I'm Ampharos, coordinator and curator of the Expedition Society, though only the former expedition leader now. Things got a little too busy and I couldn't quite be everywhere at once." 

"H-huh?" As the handshake ended, Val tilted his head. "But- We've already met right? Why are you introducing yourself like that if we've known eachother for years?" 

"Well you've lost grip on your memories, right? It's true that you aren't completely aware of who I am?" To his nod, Ampharos let out a short hum. "Then it's technically the first time we've met! So I can safely say hello, welcome to the Society, and that I hope your stay is informative and enjoyable. Usually formalities aside, we've been doing our best to help you reclaim the knowledge Panne informed us you've suddenly lost. That being said, I believe there is someone here who might know a little more about your predicament than we currently do. They have been waiting for quite a while." 

The awkward interaction passed as soon as it had began, and finally the Hydreigon was allowed to press forward and peer into the Servine even more deeply than before. She noticed their glare shift towards her with an intense but brief scrutiny, then back to him. They sniffed the air for a moment and coughed before sporting something at least resembling a grin. "Ah, Vallion! It was hard to recognize you, you were still just a Snivy last time we met. How've you been?" 

"I don't know. I've been better, I suppose. If everything were perfectly fine, I'd probably be able to recall more than the last week of my life." 

"Oh yes, yes. Of course. It must all feel quite disorienting, I understand. It’s been an incredibly long time since a mess like this has unfolded. I’d venture to say the number is in the hundreds." Hydreigon cleared their throat and floated back up from having lowered themselves to Vallion’s level. She hadn’t notice their size until now, the collar of their middle head nearly touching the ceiling. It was surprising they could even fit through the doorway. "Now, you wouldn’t happen to have witnessed what ritual was responsible, would you? It’s disconcerting that something had the ability to do this to you in the first place. I’m quite worried about the consequences that might follow should it be something too knowledgeable as well as capable." 

As uneasy as Panne felt from the look they had shot her earlier, the feeling only compounded upon itself with no mentions of reclaiming his memories. The fear immediately dawned that they might care more for the event then Vallion himself, but it was far too early to tell, right? Surely knowing what had caused all this to happen was a necessary step in learning how to fix him for good. She coughed into her arm, struggling to find the necessary patience as her eyelids reminded her of the sleep she didn’t have. But the Servine fidgeted beneath the weight of the question the dragon had asked, unsure of what angle to attack it at. Maybe he hadn’t been thinking about what to say to the Hydreigon on the way here like she had? With so much to see, it was possible. "I- hmm... I don't know exactly what happened, really. By the time I woke up in this new body, it was all over and done with. I never actually saw what was going down in the cave, or ever physically seen the thing that did this to me. The whole half a day after the fact are just really blurry in general." 

“Nonsense, you must have some sort of knowledge regarding the event. It’d be none too difficult a task to describe what kind of sigils it might have used to perform the initial rites, or maybe some of the words it might have utilized in characterizing the spell if it was an invocation. Even if you didn’t directly witness the process, there’s a chance the components might have engraved themselves into your psyche anyway.” To Vallion’s frown, the Hydreigon sniffed the air again and seemed to shrug. “And even if you don’t, you’re the only one who can accurately describe the severity and classification of the amnesia ailing you. That may very well be more important than knowing its cause, though I doubt it.” 

“I don’t really know how to answer that in any special way. I mean, it’s just amnesia, isn’t it?” He lowered his head, either from nervousness or from having to look nearly straight up to meet the dragon’s eyes. “I woke up, I remembered my name and that I was human, and that’s it. The only thing directly after that was a horrible feeling that something about my body was wrong.” 

“Hmm. So you didn’t catch even a single glimpse of the creature which staged the ritual? Not even a mental image, maybe some imprint?” He shook his head, yet Hydreigon continued to stubbornly wait for the Servine to recite every little thing he couldn’t possibly know about the battle. Just when she was about to speak up for him, he continued on the inhale on the first word. “I’m not sure exactly what it is, though Panne could probably tell you about it.” Val shot a subtle glance behind him for help. Aggravation brewed in the pit of her stomach, the heat it created nearly rising to her heart and making her blood boil. She didn’t know why the anger was there, only that it was easy enough to ignore for Vallion’s sake. "Fine, I'll tell. He was unconscious until it was all over, anyway," she began in his stead, pausing for only a brief moment to parse the slight itch in her throat. It hit her like a punch, as most tiny signs of sickness did after Serene Village. Not now, not when they were so close! She couldn’t let it have its way! "When we had first arrived back in Serene Village several days ago, nothing was wrong aside from an allergic bug that had been going around for a few months. The worst it did was give people a few disturbing dreams, but the allergic reaction was very consistent. It affected psychic types severely, it affected ghost types that couldn't possibly be touched by pollen or anything, and it targeted Val especially hard that night. He had a nightmare so vivid and impossible that he'd later urge me to find you if anything bad happened in the coming while. That's the reason why we're all here right now." 

The dragon looked unenthused, but stifling a cough that surely sprung from the meddling spirit, she continued regardless. "He was still feeling sick from the symptoms when a handful of kids went missing and we were tasked to find them. The search went on, things got more desperate, and the sun began to set while we still only barely had an idea of where they went. By assuming the worst and heading straight for the most dangerous mountain in the region, we did actually manage to find the children and make sure they were safe. But the cause of the nightmares was just using them as bait to get at Val, and by morning, he had been stolen away without a trace." 

It was then Hydreigon cut in. "It would have to be a physical threat to perform a kidnapping, wouldn’t it? I suppose a cult could have feasibly been at fault here, it would explain why the ritual would take place at all. But there’s nothing stopping that cult from having ghost and psychic types, and there are specific pollens that would have a hypnotizing effect all the same. Was it a soporific drug that was inhaled through the nasal cavity? Though I guess there are some hypnotisms that would affect the head’s organs as a whole. Was your hearing and vision affected as well?" 

"It was mimicking spring fever, so what do you think? You didn’t even let me finish," she snapped back before grunting away the minor irritation on the back of her tongue. If it sought to stifle her out of fear, it wasn’t trying nearly hard enough. "The entire valley felt the same sickness all at once the next day. The night before, the only dreams anyone had were of twisted faces and unintelligible shouting. Even the wild pokemon that lived in the mystery dungeons fled from their homes because of the spell, and most wouldn't dare leave their territories for anything less than an army at their doorstep. The Spiritomb that was pulling the strings would eventually summon a deafening fog to-" 

"A Spiritomb? Oh wow, was it really just a Spiritomb leading the cult? I was about to say, a group might be able to organize themselves in the name of an eldritch cause, but there are only a few sources of knowledge a cult could use to stage a cleansing ritual.” 

“There is no cult!” she shouted, her composure pouring over the brim. The angrier she became, the hard it was to resist the feeling that the Hydreigon was leading them on. Yet at the same time, the deep of her sinuses began to hurt as well. "Okay. Sure, fine. Unless you count the two pokemon it managed to steal of the wills of as an entire cult, it’s just a Spiritomb. Still, one that broke out of an huge ancient keystone covered from top to bottom with glyphs I couldn’t even begin to recognize. And one that forced a horde of Unown to invoke a ritual so powerful that you couldn't even hear yourself think for fifty feet away. AND one that’s been chasing us since we left Serene Village!" 

Mawile found the room to stutter out her two cents next, perhaps also trying to diffuse her frustration. "It- it did what? I've never heard of anything short of a mythical pokemon being able to control Unown, much less some random ghost in the middle of the Water Continent with seemingly no lore behind it all. And with it breaking out of its keystone-- are you sure what you fought was just a Spiritomb?" 

"Of course I am! I saw it with my own two eyes, and all my friends saw it with theirs! It's still around, too. We weren't even close to actually getting rid of it. I was just focused on stopping the ritual and getting Val to safety. I’m sure it’s slinking around the Society right now, waiting for just a single moment where he’s unprotected and I’m not looking. I know it’s here! I can feel it burning my nose from just being around!" Though guilt poured into her chest for snapping at Mawile, the heat in her blood refused to let up. This wasn’t a matter she could afford to relent, not with her Servine at stake. 

Hydreigon sniffed the air one last time, grumbled to themselves at an unintelligible volume, and turned to stare off into space at a blank wall. "Ooh, that makes a little more sense. So how would it… ah, that’s annoying." Their expression turned grim, and for once Panne was not the focus of their glare. Still, them gazing into the distance did nothing to solve what was wrong before it had the chance to be made unfixable. If this dragon truly had the knowledge to fix this, watching them furrow their brows in wary contemplation was the last image she wanted to see. “Well? Go on and spit it out, nobody here can read your mind.” 

"...Huh? Oh.” They cleared their throat loudly. “In order to pacify a Spiritomb, one would need a specialized vessel by which to support the immensity of so many souls at once. Most living things cannot possibly facilitate such a spiritual mass without the body dying outright. Though it is possible through intense psychic permanence between several creatures to maybe share the burden, but their existence would surely deteriorate very quickly as a result.” The groan she sucked back into her lungs very nearly turned into a cough going back down. “No. This isn’t about the Spiritomb, they can wait until after Val’s better again. Right now I want to know how to fix him, not the intricacies of how to trap a big cloud of hate into a tiny rock, alright? You’re here to help Val.” “I mean, if a spiritual coagulation to as massive a caliber as you say maintains form without a vessel and has the intelligence to cleanse a person of their memories, technically I’d be helping many more than just him if I figured out how to incapacitate it indefinitely.” Despite their importance, Panne didn’t hesitate to shoot them an obvious glare. Somehow the Hydreigon was too lost in thought to even see it. “If it knew how to guide the Unown in the first place, no doubt it would have the dark knowledge to rend a soul from a body. It makes sense when you consider the kind of havoc a Spiritomb with a human soul could reap. Although, I can't really imagine why it would try to wipe your memories and assimilate your soul in the same ritual, unless something went way far south in the middle of the ritual…” 

The Braixen bit down her exasperation, having to swallow far too many of her emotions just to keep them in check. It was like everything that could have possibly been infuriating in her half-awake stupor was. "How am I supposed to know? All I tried to do was interrupt the ritual with the Unown and cause the Spiritomb to destabilize, but when I actually managed to make a dent, it just went into one of the pokemon it had already mentally killed and continued to chant the whole thing out on its own. I stopped it again, and everything just froze like I stopped time or something. The Spiritomb didn't seem to leave the pokemon's body, the Unown all rushed out of the cave, and the quiet sounded four times as harsh. When Val woke up a little while later, he was just like the day he had been put into a Snivy body eight years ago." 

"I can’t imagine why that is. Unless it wanted that to happen in the first place, in which case you only managed to half of the plans it had at work. There’s an incredibly sizable leap from erasing someone’s memories to trying to rend their soul from their body. Even on accident, there are too many complexities to both that would make simultaneous reaction impossible. Hmm," the Hydreigon paused once more, leaving everyone on the same hopeless cliffhanger as before. They just coughed and muttered to themselves, like the answer would simply project on the wall for everyone to see after long enough. And when they did speak up, it had nothing to do with why his memories were gone. "To be fair, Vallion, there were very few outcomes in which you were meant to survive. Even if the Spiritomb hadn’t succeeded the full way, all of your veins could have simultaneously popped in every part of your body upon interruption, or your brain could have rejected the soul that was just occupying it, putting you in an eternal coma where you’re still capable of conscious thought. Usually a vessel doesn’t survive even the removal of its host, much less what happened there." 

"Host?" Vallion murmured and looked to the floor, shaking his head to the strange vocabulary. "To be honest, I don't really feel all that grateful to have survived. Not that I want to die or anything, that's not it at all. It's just that I don't really have a good enough perspective on anything to know what I'd be missing if I were gone. But there are probably worse fates to have." He looked up again and stuck his chest out just a little bit more. "Okay. If I'm here now, I might as well keep going like I mean it. What happened exactly for me to end up this way? You said you knew how to fix it, right?" 

Hydreigon thought on for a moment longer before grunting a low tone. "You know what? The more that I think about it, the more it seems like the Spiritomb was intentionally trying to pick up your soul and scrub it clean before anything else. Maybe it assumed you'd be a cleaner assimilation if you lost all of your motives and desires? By the sounds of its sheer size, you'd have been driven mad regardless of what your soul was emotionally attached to. Although... I guess generally the same kind of mental cleansing happened to you a thousand years ago, so maybe near-total memory loss is just a side effect that doubled down upon having your soul exposed to air. A failsafe, maybe?" 

"You know what happened to us a thousand years ago? Hardly anyone is aware of even half of Dark Matter in the first place." This conversation wasn’t her own to have, yet Panne felt anxious to interject regardless, curiosity and skepticism compelling her to keep pressing anyway. "Who are you that you would have access to this kind of information, anyway? Did Val tell you about us during the first time you two met? I mean, you seem to know a lot about these kinds of things. Are you an oracle or something?" 

The Hydreigon huffed. "I suppose so. The way fate twists into knots isn’t obscured to me, though it is admittedly far clearer in my eyes than most psychics with incredible foresight will ever see. I certainly wouldn’t need someone to tell me that your soul has the signature of Mew, and if you gave me a moment, I could probably tell you the exact time of both moments their soul was split into two. Though I imagine it’d be a lot harder for me if you hadn’t consumed harmony scarves to get here." 

Dammit, now she was the one that sidetracked them! This is about Vallion! If they have the answers, what does it matter who they are? The Braixen waved their hands through the air to gesture them silent. "That’s more than enough, you can stop now. I’ve seen enough crazy things to believe you, but this is about Val anyway." 

"And Vallion-- well, I’d be exaggerating if I told you it was hard to tell a human from any other pokemon. The edges around your soul are at least rounded out for the body, per say, but a human’s practically pours its aura out the seams if you know where to look. That, and I was quite familiar with the Vallion back when the last Dark Matter crisis had taken hold. I might have even been the one who summoned him, funny that. You’d be surprised how many important things you can forget over one or two thousand years." 

“No- Just- Please, tell us how to help Val,” she stuttered, surprisingly completely uninterested in learning about the original Vallion. Perhaps it was simply because there was no room for such emotions, as fury had already balled up in her chest for seemingly no reason. Concern took place of sleeplessness and kept the obtuse anger at bay. The reason why was just on the tip of her tongue, yet she could barely not concentrate enough to figure out what. It was such a familiar feeling, so much so that part of the fury was just from not being able to figure out the obvious source. 

The Hydreigon nodded, thankfully taking the reigns of the conversation right back, for she was silenced in that anything else she said could only come out as a vicious snarl. “You’re right, at least about what I should be saying. However, I don’t believe it is the time to say it, at least not anymore.” 

“Why not?” Vallion asked, his voice clean of emotion or stress. 

“It’s late,” they answered, and a twinge of annoyance shot through her body. “But more than that, the Braixen is right. There is indeed a force among us beyond the veil of what can be seen, though I suppose the symptoms are obvious enough.” 

“I told you!” she shouted to the room to disprove claims that weren’t there, desperation exploding through her veins in the instant. A flurry of coughs followed quickly after. “That’s why we need to fix him now! There’s not much time left until the Spiritomb finds some kind of opening, even the slightest crack in a door. And when it does, it’ll already be too late!” 

The dragon just sighed and tapped a secondary head beneath the chin of his center one. "This won’t do at all. I would have prepared to deal with such an issue had I known beforehand it would follow you straight to me. Oh well, I suppose that answers how powerful it is. Tomorrow works as well as any other day for explanations." Drifting by the Servine and straight past Ampharos, they apathetically guided themselves to the exit where Floatzel leaned against the frame. "Take me to a spare guest room, or any room for that matter. I’m sure it won’t really matter in the long run." 

The water type barely had the time to let loose a stuttering response before the Hydreigon simply floated over them, into the hallway and out of sight. Floatzel quickly gathered his composure and dashed after them. In the moment, her legs filled with adrenaline and begged her to follow in that chase. They hadn’t learned anything on how to make Vallion better again, on this night that she had been waiting for with bated breath. She lost sleep for this! The Hydreigon might as well have known nothing at all, as the outcome would be exactly the same. What even was the point? 

"Dammit..." Panne growled, the first to break the silence which thickened the air. "Who the hell do they think they are, some unquestionable deity? What WAS that?! If they somehow really knew Vallion a millenia ago, you'd think they'd actually care!" 

"You have to calm down," Mawile's collected voice spoke up from her corner of the room. "They did what they could, and it sounds like we have more important things to deal with right now. We can’t let whatever’s been chasing you guys to get at Vallion." 

The Braixen spoke up with a continued viciousness. "I don't care how the Spiritomb’s slinking about, they’re too much a coward to do anything about it! This was supposed to clear everything up and give us a way to fix him, they didn't tell us anything! All they did was stand there and mumble to themselves while we're the ones who did all the explaining! How are we supposed to help Val if the only person who actually can doesn't even want to cooperate?! There is one of the most dangerous-” The cough she had been holding back finally became irresistible, and as she fell into the unstoppable hacking fit, they became more and more violent. Vallion even seemed to rise in concern as she doubled over. 

“Panne, are you alright!?” she heard the Servine shout, but it was impossible to respond. For a brief second she really did believe that she was about to suffocate, yet the urge to cough waned just before spots appeared in her vision. The equally enormous gasp she took in elicited plenty more sputtering coughs afterward, but nothing still compared to the original fit. Panic shot through her veins where uncontrollable anger had once been. Shivering in place and subject to the room’s anxiety, she focused on giving her lungs air again. 

Now she finally figured out where the fury had come from. A feeling of revelation poured in, accompanied by shame for being so malleable at such a vital moment. “It’s gone,” she muttered with heavy breath, pushing off her legs to a stand once more. “I forgot that it could do that now. But- but don’t worry, the Spiritomb’s left.” 

“What happened?” Ampharos boomed. Through the tears in her eyes, he had taken a stance like he was about to run through the compound blasting lightning through the walls. The Braixen tried to wave his hostility away, though without anger to fuel her with the energy to stay afloat, her exhaustion redoubled onto itself. 

“It’s fine, everything’s… everything’s fine. It’s not going to come back.” Finally the electric type seemed to believe her, relenting in his readiness and slowly sitting back down. Enough strength had returned that she was at least able to speak clearly, though her lungs were far from satisfied. “It.. it can provoke people. It didn’t used to be able to do that, but I guess.. I’m sorry. Dammit, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to… to yell at Hydreigon like that!” 

"Easy, Panne. Give them more credit, they seemed to understand what was happening," Ampharos said, leaning backwards in his chair and sighing away the rest of the tension in his body. "I’m sure you didn’t leave too much of a mark on the situation. If anything, it looks like they actually learned more from your outburst than the rest of us did. They know you didn’t quite mean what you said.” 

Yet even with the influence over her gone, there remained a twinge of real disappointment. “But.. but I did, though. The Spiritomb wasn’t talking through me, it wasn’t like that. I genuinely did feel like they weren’t taking this seriously. You can’t just materialize frustration out of nowhere.” Her hand went straight for her forehead, trying to suppress the pain which she only noticed intensified now. “That’s understandable too, I suppose. They’re certainly the scattered type, as Mawile and I experienced while waiting for you to arrive. But don’t count Vallion out of his own opinion, it’s his memories that were lost. You're not the only one who's been bearing this burden." His eyes seemed as tired as hers were, and the aged enthusiasm that would normally tinge his voice had been replaced entirely with stress. 

She looked to Vallion and wished that he could understand the apology in her bent ears. "I know, I know. It's just not fair at all. They were rambling on about everything else in our situation instead of actually helping him. I'm just trying to find the fastest way to make Val better again, and I know I was being stupid about it, but come on!" The Braixen slid down the wall to a sitting position, crossing her arms and blowing smoke from her nostrils. "I can’t believe I let the stupid thing control me like that. If I caught it early on before, why was it so hard now?" 

Ampharos said nothing right away, closing his eyes and continuing to lean as far back as his chair would allow. "The Vallion standing before us isn't broken, but I can see how you would feel that way, what with wearing those scarves on your neck and wrist. He's already proposed to you that human custom he figured out, hasn't he?" He corrected his posture and blinked at the sheets of fiber. "The only thing stupid here is the fortune he was granted. I thought he'd wait just a little longer after getting those to set his plan in motion, but I suppose he got reckless." 

Suddenly she remembered the pieces of fabric adorning her. Like a stab of pain they became impossible to ignore, forcing her hands to touch the one around her neck as if it were bearing down into her flesh. "He- he told you about these?" 

"Of course he did! I was one of the few who were entrusted with receiving the scarves as they came and sending them off without your notice. Though it only makes me more disappointed that the first time I see you two after it all is during an emergency, and one where his promise is completely undermined as well. This little gift has been such a long time in the making, you know. I really did expect the both of you to be grinning from ear to ear the next time I saw you." And it showed, the electric type turned his eyes to the ceiling and gave a weak smile. 

Mawile seemed disconnected from the grim conversation at hand. "Hey Vallion, are you alright?" she asked out of the blue, causing Panne to whip her head back up and look in the Servine's direction, frightened of anything that might be symptoms of the Spiritomb's influence. Indeed, his stare was glazed and aimless as she looked to him, but he would shake himself from the trance and subdue the panic that was more than ready to course through her veins. He looked to everyone else in the room as if to avoid blanking out again. 

"Yeah.. Yeah. I'm just tired and hungry, and maybe a little dazed after hearing about all this. I mean, everything about the Dark Matter and the weird soul stuff that's happened to us in the past-- it was all just-..." he paused, trying to salvage the right thing to say from his scattered mind. "I hardly believed any of it at first. I tried not to think too much about it, since I had shelter and food and a chance at figuring out what the hell was going on, but now that we're here discussing it like this, it's all actually starting to feel real. Like maybe most of that stuff really did happen." 

"I wouldn't lie to you, Val." The words stung with a cruelty behind the sincerity of her softened voice. She had already lied plenty, and just saying so was lying again. "A-at least, what happened back then is too important for me to lie about, even slightly. We're some of the few people who actually know the truths behind it, kind of like the only survivors of a battle that the rest of history only makes assumptions about. And.. I knew that you weren't convinced about your past, too. I just thought that you were starting to believe me after I showed you those maps." 

"I didn't mean to take for granted what you were trying to tell me," he assured her. "All of it seemed too crazy to be true. I thought you were just being eccentric or something, but the maps felt so much more.. physical. Who has the time to make up an entire map of the world, including the roads and towns that are scattered across the continents? And it was in a school, so there really wasn't any reason for me not to believe it, right? Still, though. Everything about this feels just as surreal as when you first tried to tell me, so it's even stranger now that I can almost take it for real." 

"Eh. If we stayed a little longer, you might have heard about Dark Matter straight from the teachers themselves." There was nothing to follow her words, no conversation to continue with the tired air that was already looming over everyone. Not that she was particularly upset to be stuck in the silence, as the burst of frustrations from earlier did more than use up what tiny reserves of energy she had left in her. Sitting against the wall, Panne leaned into her tail and felt her consciousness teetering on a dangerous ledge, barely being held aloft by the pain in her forehead and the gnawing hunger in her gut. Whenever she did try to open her eyes wide and look around the room, it hurt to even try focusing in on any particular thing past the shiftiness and minor hallucinations. If she didn't have at least something small to eat soon, her body wouldn't care to wait much longer. "Can we just stick our noses into the pantry and steal someone's seconds or something? I don't have the strength to stay awake for an entire meal, and it'd take too long to prepare, anyway. I just want to sleep and get tomorrow over with." 

 

 

At its current state, the room of precious memories and moments they entered held nothing more than a few dark corners and the sound of rain beating on a window pane. Shadows covered the walls, obscuring their past so that Vallion could think nothing more of the scene. It wasn't until Panne's lazy hand brushed around the wall to find a switch that everything would explode into existence with a flash of light. His pupils became narrow in the brightness, yet his eyes widened to the cluttered scene of things he no longer knew. Diagrams and beautiful sketches of places he's never visited lined the walls, and second to those were strange artifacts and seemingly random objects that had no apparent meaning anymore. Clearly a lot of love and time were spent for the room to achieve such a messy aesthetic, yet there was no way for him to feel that it was love and time. 

"Oh my god," was the first thing he uttered as he stepped deeper into his own room, gazing from the cot on the western wall, still messy from when they had last left for vacation, to the pencil-drawn map of stars they had tacked to the ceiling simply because they thought it would be cool, and finally to the trunks and wardrobe which covered walls their past wasn't already occupying. It was too much for him to comprehend just by sight, too much to suddenly leave behind. The look on his face was like nothing else she had seen in the Society this night. Ancient slabs of text and golden seeds were impersonal even to those who found them, but this was everything that defined who they were before. "I'd ask what all of this is, but that might take the rest of the night anyway," he gasped. 

Panne, though made sad and nostalgic by the smells of the room, didn't hesitate to breeze past him towards the bed. She'd have been perfectly fine collapsing into the cot and abandoning the waking realm in that very instant, yet the pounding in her head had only grown more unbearable as she shambled about the compound. Laying down might actually make it worse before it was made better. The attempt might very well just catch her in the purgatory of being too tired to move yet too pained to fall entirely asleep. The Braixen dragged herself over to the corner of the bed and hovered her hand over a nearby drawer's handle. The small flicker of apprehension faded with a pulse of disorientation running through her senses, there was a reason she saved these things. Reaching deep into the drawer, she felt beneath the mess for a specific bag. 

Still taken aback by his own dwelling, it took Vallion a good few moments to realize she had something in her grasp at all. The Braixen had withdrawn a pale-colored twig from the bottom of the drawer and kicked it shut, rubbing her temples with one hand and holding the stick to her mouth with the second. With a sigh pressed it into her back teeth and began to chew voraciously at its bark. He took in the image with a similar curiosity to the rest of the place. "What's that?" 

"A stick from a willow tree that was growing in a mystery dungeon." her speech was garbled, gnawing away with a shameless fervor. "My head hurts, and this thing has acids that can help with the pain." 

He stared on for a while longer with a growing grin before twisting away, stifling the beginnings of a giggle. Panne had hoped that he would just ignore the notion, but instead she felt the skin beneath her facial fur grow hot and her ears even hotter. Still, she chewed to her heart's content and waited until the wood's substances began to numb the hurt. He didn't stop his chuckling, though, failing horribly to subdue his own laughter. It came to the point that she couldn't bear it any longer and spun her glare to the wall right of her. "What?! It's just for the headache!" Surprisingly, she relished the embarrassment, grateful to feel such a vigorous emotion after having been completely content with one another for so long. More than that, the attention was the guiltiest pleasure imaginable, one that she was trying to avoid simply to not deal with the confliction. 

"Hehehmm- Sorry! It's just that- well, for the week that I've even known you, this is the first thing you've done that actually seems overwhelming Braixen of you. It's kind of funny is all." To his smile, she swore her ears were so hot that they had actually caught on fire. And with the rapid beating of her heart came the unwanted itch of the scarf around her wrist, yearning desperately to be pulled off for good and given to its rightful owner. He was so close that it hurt, and yet.. 

"Hush," she finally said, biting down on a stubborn nub in the twig. "Wands are awkward to fit into bags, and since a Braixen's tail is made of thick fur to store away tinder, I thought it would be convenient to stab supplies of wands into it. You'd lose the habit pretty fast too if you tried to bite into a wand as if it were like any other. A whirlwind wand could probably break your jaw." 

His laughter tapered away. "Right, of course. I don't mean to be rude about it or anything. Maybe I was just forgetting that everyone's a pokemon now, I don't know. It's probably not something I'm used to yet." As he went back to surveying the many intricacies of the room that were nothing more than fleeting inside jokes, she chewed until the twig cracked in her canines, continuing to avoid his gaze as much as possible. There was at least a reason for once to be thankful he couldn't read her expressions as well anymore. It otherwise wouldn't be hard to see her eyes twitch back to him while he wasn't looking, her fidgeting an obvious indicator of the very thing she was missing. They were so close now. If the Hydreigon cooperated, he would surely find his old self again, and she wouldn't have to hold back any longer. 

The meager piece of wood didn't stand to last long against her grinding teeth, and while beside herself with fatigue and want, it wouldn't do much good to keep swallowing the splintered fragments in hopes that he'd make another comment. She tossed the remnants of the stick into a nearby bin and dug the rest of the pieces out of her back teeth with her tongue. She hadn't needed to eat tinder to make fire in her throat since she was a Fennekin, there was no use in doing so now and bringing back the old instinct. But even with her yearning for attention, at least the insides of her head had steadily became more bearable than when she had began, regardless of whether it was just a placebo effect or not. All that was needed now was so much sleep that her body could sort itself out. 

"Hey, Panne, what- Oh, sorry," he stuttered, rousing her from the half-sleep she had nearly fell into from just laying down for a moment. Struggling to make out the blurry picture after finally pushing herself back up, she squinted towards the Servine and picked out mostly that he was trying to examine something leaning on the corner of the wardrobe. 

"No no, go on," she waved his question to continue, though not at all feeling the energy to answer. 

"It's a stupid question, anyway," he said, but turned to look at the object again that was just barely obscured from her view. Vallion surrendered to his curiosities and extended vines to pull it into the open. A familiar shaven branch was what he would come to hold, the tender wood almost pink in color and obviously carved into. "You were talking about wands, and I was wondering if this was actually one or not. But then I thought it's probably way too big to be one." 

The Braixen extended a shaky hand towards the staff, extending what remained of her scattered consciousness to pull it across the distance. Val took it as a beckoning to bring it to her instead, gasping in surprise as it flew from his vines and drifted through the air on its own. She was especially careful not to provoke any random power spikes like last night, fighting the fuzziness on the fringes of her mind to allow the staff a gentle landing right into her palms. It was hefty in her arms, especially in the sorry state that she was in, and so the wood slipped through her hands until the bottom clanked against the floor for support. 

"You see all the little etchings that are carved into it? The random lines that are going up and down?" she traced a claw over the small indents, he nodded intently. "Those don't mean anything. This is just an ordinary branch of wood, there's nothing noteworthy about it other than the fact that we cut the bark off of it and accidentally kept slicing into the branch itself." Vallion didn't seem to believe her for a few seconds, staring on as if the secret would reveal itself after enough time. Something close to disappointment soon crossed his expression during her pause. 

"What? Why do we have it if it's just a normal wooden staff?" 

"Because we do? I don't know, it was kind of cool to find a branch this straight. Plus it's a really useful kind of wood that I can burn for a very long time. Not very brightly, mind you, but what if we need a really huge torch to burn for the entire day?" She set it slowly down onto the ground, too weak or apathetic to actually levitate it back to its place. It was rolled beneath the cot and settled in a spot that would probably make it difficult to retrieve later. The Braixen mentally waved away the worry and settled back down into the position she nearly passed out in earlier. "Actually, I think we did try to make it into a mega-wand before. It didn't really do anything. I don't think anyone really knows how to make mystery dungeon artifacts on their own." 

Vallion's energy quickly faded with the time of night, he soon just didn't have the will to keep trying to quench his feeling of unknowing. The Servine approached the light switch and took one last illuminated glance at the room behind him as if trying to absorb all he could to meditate upon before darkness took everything back into it. He tilted his head toward the cot and found hesitance once again. "Is there really only one bed in here?" 

"We've only ever needed one," she could barely reply audibly anymore. With the last of her waking strength, the Braixen dragged herself over to the wall side of the bed in an attempt to make room, struggling to go against the comfort she had already found. The light finally went out before the blacks of her eyelids. The guilty side of her wished that there wasn't as much room on this cot as there was, that they would be forced together with hardly any space between. She waited, fully anticipating feeling him climb up onto the bed and the shuffling which would follow in him getting comfortable. There were few thoughts to resist the desire. 

And indeed, the vibrations of him clumsily climbing up the side nearly gave her chills if she hadn't already completely resigned her body to sleep. Yet that was all he did after the motion settled. Contrary to what her foolishness expected, following afterward wasn't an inquisitive nose poking beneath her chin and pressing into her head. There was no squeezing wraps with his tail or tickling vines, she wouldn't even have known he was there at all if not for the gentle breathing. Panne kept herself curled towards the wall, constantly having the expectation that his old love would miraculously return and that she would feel his touch comfort her. Disappointment of her own filled the space, one that should have been more obvious than the sun’s rise. 

But it was an especially short-lived breed, as there wasn't anything left in her that could possibly support such an emotion. Weariness gripped her with an unyielding might, almost causing her to be dizzy just laying in place with her eyes closed in the dark. There was probably plenty of internal dialogue she could have had with herself in the dead of night, maybe about her own idiocy or hope for the Hydreigon to cooperate from here on. Alas, staying up several nights while in danger and wilderness was one thing, but in this new safety and warmth, she had no choice but to barrel over the horizon of slumber.


	9. Tapping Feet

Even with her most concentrated efforts, the Braixen couldn't quite recognize the hillside, nor the birchwood forest at the bottom that was made murky by the evening dark. If not for the thick overcast rolling along overhead, there'd probably be an astonishing sunset beaming down instead of just a dim grey yellow. She deeply breathed in the short wisps of wind which swirled through the grass and tasted foreboding almost immediately, the kind that straightened backs and raised ears just before an earthquake would hit. It was potent like a pang of deja vu, yet she was certain that it wasn't. The clarity of such a dreadful feeling was the first thing to convince her that this was a dreamscape. What the dream had been before this exact point was impossible to remember, yet she was coherent enough to wonder how she remained asleep even after realizing it. A shudder went down her spine as she continued to trudge up the grassy slope, driven by curiosity alone. 

It almost felt like a waste now, walking around in this mundane landscape knowing full well that it was probably empty. She had heard stories of non-telepathic pokemon who could somehow gain control of their own dreams and could twist them from the inside, a concept already well beyond her own potential. All she could do with this power of awareness was wonder why her subconscious crafted this place to be as it was. There didn't seem to be any immediate significance in the setting, though the topic had a suspicious fuzz around the edges where it became too difficult to think straight. If this truly was somewhere she had once visited, the meaning was almost certainly lost. 

The view from the very top of the hill struck her as a vivid surprise compared to what she had expected. What had originally seemed like an ordinary bump of earth abruptly fell away shortly after she touched the top, the sheer cliff which ensued shooting straight down into a sloshing pit of jagged spires and crashing ocean. The ledge continued for another half-mile on either side of her before curving backwards and out of sight, but the sea continued sprawling on past the land until the very ends of the horizon. Panne was so afflicted with vertigo peering over the sudden drop-off that she couldn't help but take to a crawling position just to make sure there was no chance of slipping. For something that wasn't even real, she could very plainly feel her tendons lock up in fear. 

Far out above the ocean and deep within the layer of clouds was a splotch of dark. The longer she stared in its direction and attempted to pick out its shape, the more amorphous and black it became. The oncoming storm couldn't have been more obvious by the time it had started to bleed into the rest of the sky. Like the dusk had grown a voracious form and raced ahead of the sunset, a shadow crept over the turbulent waves in the distance and raced towards the edge she laid upon. The very air shifted violently and rushed past her as if trying to escape her looming fate. 

Panne scrambled to her feet and stepped backwards from the ledge, not taking her eyes off the strange weather. She could have sworn that the passing seconds were growing shorter as the wind whipped more violently at her fur, like time itself was actively blurring. It was impossible to tell if something else was pushing the storm forward, or if it was charging straight at her like a living beast. Either way, it wasn't going to wait for her to find shelter. Yet as she twisted around and prepared her legs to sprint down the hill, a threatening sensation froze a breath in her throat and her feet to the dirt. Though nothing actually moved whenever her eyes refocused, she could see every tree in the endless forest ripped up from the roots and carried away by some upward current that wasn't there. It convinced her blossoming panic that the high ground was safer than anywhere else, yet she couldn't wrap her mind around why-- especially with the occasional tingle of static pulling gently at her hairs. 

But it was just a dream, right? The Braixen shut her eyelids tight and tried to will herself awake from this doomed setting, feeling hard for the compression of her bed or the warmth of her lover. There had to be a physical world to find amidst this artificial one. If she usually shot up instantly from even realizing a nightmare was upon her, there was no way she could sleep through noticing an uncomfortable crease in the sheets. The grass waved at her ankles regardless of what she tried to feel. She looked back out over the imaginary ocean and found that the black clouds were far closer than they were before. A mere minute had passed and she could already see water vapors rushing out to meet the birth of vortexes. Some idiotic part of her mind had to be to blame for making up the most intimidating storm possible. 

Her quickened heart distracted, she stepped up to the ledge again and peered down at the battered rocks below. The next quickest way out of a nightmare was to commit suicide before something even worse happened. All it would take was a single step forward and one brief gasp upon waking and whatever was coming could be avoided entirely. Over and over her lips silently repeated that thought process, fighting to keep her shaking legs from preemptively falling. Against her own logic, she stepped away and collapsed in the grass with her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She didn't want to die. 

The storm was close enough now that she could see the fog of hail and rain descend from it like a curtain. She looked to the forest, yet those flimsy branches and trunks would surely do nothing to shelter her. She tried to look over the edge, yet her instincts pulled her back for fear that she might try to jump again. There were no other hills or mountains to run to, not that she'd even be able to outrun this thing. It had to be moving at an immense pace to close so many miles in a matter of minutes. The waves below had become enormous in comparison to what they once were, tripling in size and crashing against the cliff so hard she swore she felt vibrations. When the wind roared not like wind would, but as if the storm were a living colossus with a million times the presence of her. It was then that she truly could feel tremors coming from the cliff's base. 

It was impossible, yet the rock spires at the bottom had all but disappeared beneath a swirling surge of ocean. What had once been a perilous fall was rapidly becoming shorter and shorter, the seas themselves seemingly trying to climb up the cliff and devour her. It wasn't just a matter of terror that she scrambled backwards, but utter hopelessness to defeat the dream. Thunder rolled in the distance without source, the white flashes of lightning that should have come beforehand were somehow muted by the density of the clouds. There was nowhere else to go, over half the sky had turned darker than night. 

She tried to scream, but the whistling drowned the sound into whispering insignificance as the curtain of rain caught up. Hands over head, the Braixen pressed their body to the grass as closely as possible and begged for the dream to end. The first of the hail came like a fist against her back, but the rest didn't hesitate to contribute to the pummeling. Endless jagged shards of ice brought her screams to mere whimpers of pain as she curled against the impacts, feeling the hateful gusts try to carry her away all the while. Even the hard but harmless rain that came between blows was cold enough to feel like burning. Never in her life had she experienced a dream that could hurt this badly, almost convincing enough to be real. 

There was more screaming in her ears than just her own. It was hard to notice at first, harder to believe most of all, yet soon it was impossible to ignore the disembodied cries. They became too numerous to count the individual, eventually becoming a cacophony like she had been in a populated city while the flood rendered everything undone. More than that, she felt convinced the whole world was yelling at once. Entire cities and everyone who lived in them were being drowned in the tsunami of black ocean. She could see it in the back of her tightened eyelids, friends and family alike swept away by something that was beyond nature and remorse. It became more than just surging water, like a threshold to cross with one final mortified expression before you were stolen from everything you love. Every memory that ever was or ever would be of all these places were engulfed and erased without reason. 

The visions nearly wracked her as much as the pounding hail and biting cold, yet it was somehow made worse as they started to disappear altogether into silence. Everyone's shouting, which had become more akin to wails of grief than terror, began to fade away in the deep of her ears. Individual voices began to stand out once more, but it wasn't long before they became brief murmurs and hers was the only voice left to cry out against the wind and rain. The waters had ate them all. It was like the very ground she was hugging had fallen into an infinite abyss, roaring with hate but completely black and empty. An overwhelming loneliness chilled her where the icy rain had not yet touched. The sea ate them all, it ate everything. 

Finally, the surface of the ocean had finally stopped hesitating and rushed into her at all sides. Panne screamed and scrambled to an unstable stand, sputtering on an involuntary gulp of the vile liquid which rushed into her mouth from the surge. It burned in her eyes, persisting despite the flood of tears that came pouring. At her haunches splashed the rising surface, carrying with it a tide that threatened to drag her below forever. It was undeniable, even the quickest water type wouldn't have been able to fight the current for too long before it wrapped around their heart and froze them to death. She could feel their subdued sorrow as the waves lapped at her waist to climb even higher. 

Her numbed foothold wouldn't last much longer. Tears mingled with saltwater perfectly as her face contorted with agony. There were countless invisible faces with the same emotion, making the same raw noises of misery that stayed like a ringing in the water's constant churning. It was so cold. Everything was cold. The threads that made up the fabric of the universe were frozen and brittle. All the sadness that remained in everything belonged to her, it was merely resonance from things that were no longer living. The grass beneath her feet gave way like a puddle of loose mud in a stream. Her mouth was wide open as the ocean swallowed her whole. 

Mistaking her own saliva for a part of the dream, the Braixen shot up and began to choke uncontrollably. Her leaking eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light that trickled in from the window, but the rest of her body was more much more hesitant to let go of the panic. The first few moments of wakefulness were merely spent trying to catch her breath from the desperate struggle in her mind. Nose burning and plugged, she glared into the sullen corners of the room and into every crevice in between, struck with the obvious feeling that she was being watched. After wiping the tears from her eyes, they would follow the contours of the shadows until they stuck firmly to the window, guided by something subconscious even if there was nothing to see besides the streaking rain. It wasn't in here, things would feel differently if it had been. No, it was like she was being stared at from past a fence that was too tall to climb over. Or perhaps it could make the climb, but simply prefered not to go through the effort. Panne swallowed away the mucus that had slowly been crawling down her irritated throat. 

It was undoubtedly a miserable morning otherwise, the rain clouds heavy enough to block out a great deal of the early sun. Wind battered the side of the compound in a similar fashion, though was thankfully nowhere near as powerful as the nightmare. Vallion would have loved this kind of weather- A gasp caught in her throat. She twisted her torso around to look at the Servine, holding her breath for fear that the Spiritomb might still be here, yet what she saw was the clean impression that nothing was wrong at all. He laid curled up into a ball and was entirely still besides the occasional rise and fall of his side. No tormented twitching or heavy breathing, no indication that he had been rendered ill in his nose-- he was entirely untouched. Relief mingled with confusion as she sighed away the rest of the tension in the air. It was the first time it had targeted her alone with equal opportunity for both. Nearly shuddering at a flashing recollection of her nightmare, she shook free and gave the first stretch of the day. 

The Braixen extended a hand to place on his forehead in case there was something more subtle at work, but she caught the motion halfway through. Such a gesture had no way of being made impersonal. She loved him too much to stave off the awkward feeling, and it hurt her heart to even try. Seconds ticked by as the silly confliction kept her arm stuck in mid-air, caught just before a single touch she couldn't decide was affectionate or not.Against the angel on her shoulder and to quell the devil on the other, she forced herself to finish the movement and lightly placed her palm on the curve of his nose. Vallion didn't even twitch from his sleep. He was indeed warmer than she expected, yet not nearly enough to be construed as a fever. All it really did was make her want to curl around his body and go back to sleep. She dragged her fingers a bit across the side of his face while pulling away, but that was as much as she would allow herself. There shouldn't be any harm in a little bit of affection, even if he was dead asleep at the time. 

The feeling of being watched disappeared entirely as Panne made her careful way around his body and touched hard floor with her feet. The pounding in her chest finally began to subside, and in addition the malice in her sinuses. Whatever reason the Spiritomb had for targeting only her with a nightmare, it still made her worry less than if it had continued to focus on Vallion. It at least was a variable she had complete control over. Every black storm it dragged her through mind was one less he might have to endure. By the end of this all, she probably wouldn't mind ghosts with anywhere near the same fervor as before. There was plenty of room left over for her to worry about how many more buried prisons were out there, each with an unimaginably ancient creature biding its time in the dark. Heaven forbid they go searching after this is over and they find one that's already empty. 

While an incessant hunger had taken the place of terror in her gut, Panne was extremely hesitant to leave the room at all. Though the Spiritomb didn't seem too keen on entering before, what would stop the ghost from sneaking in after she was gone and having Val to itself? The air itself felt as liberated as it could be from the Spiritomb's presence, but the paranoia she had developed in recent times no longer trusted when things were calm. The summer squall beating on the outside of the building didn't help much in that regard. It wasn't as intimidating after the horrible dream she had been given, sure, but the latent energy of it was probably just spurring on more activity. Had she not known better, the nightmare could have easily been justified by the vicious weather. It wouldn't have been the first time a few bad days of rain have done that sort of thing, anyway. 

Even so, it didn't take long for her to grow tired of staring out the window into a dreary morning. The growling in her stomach became more difficult to ignore with each passing moment. There wasn't anything to gain from sitting on the floor and adamantly waiting for something bad to happen. Today was the day they were supposed to be given the solution to Vallion's amnesia. She could stay here and wait for him to stir from the deep slumber he had fallen into, bearing the lackluster dinners she's had over the last few days, but what then? Certainly it would be more dangerous to go on without at least eating one decent enough meal to sustain herself. That wouldn't change whether it took the Servine a minute to wake up from now, or an hour. The only difference was the time she wasted glaring at the heavy clouds as they rolled on by. 

Looking to the curtain that served as the threshold between their room and the hall, she eyed the glow that peered past the cracks on the sides and bottom. Conceding to do the wrong thing once more, the Braixen pressed to a stand and wandered towards the barrier with a yawn stuck in her jaw. Her eyes watered from the remaining allergies in her nose as she snuck through the thick cloth and emerged into a bright, empty corridor. It occurred to her that there hadn't been a morning bell, or at least not one that managed to shake the either of them awake. Had she really missed morning assembly again? There had to be someone who would've checked on them if they didn't show up, right? Maybe there just wasn't a bell to speak of. Panne stuck her nose back through into the darkness for a moment longer to ensure everything was alright before taking off. 

Dragging her feet into the central chamber, it was more than evident from the emptiness that she didn't sleep through much. There wasn't even a single footprint to be seen across the entirety of the floor, even in the dark colors of the four-sided star that occupied most of the surface area. It still surprised her how eerie this place could get whenever everyone slept in, though it really didn't help that the rain-streaked skylights were only letting in the dark grey rather than a luminous morning sun. Partly responsible for the lonely atmosphere was certainly the fact that many more Society members were still stuck off-continent waiting for this storm to pass so that they could even get into port. Those who didn't find the situation urgent enough to return as soon as Mawile found the Hydreigon were forced to wait for even longer to get home. 

Further into the building and to her relief, the cafeteria would finally hold some signs of life otherwise absent from the rest of the building, albeit life that seemed as groggy as she was. Swirlix didn't even bother to turn the lights on once breakfast began, leaving everyone to see only by somber window-light. Archeops allowed his head to droop dangerously close to his plate while caught in an apparently very slow conversation with Floatzel. Jirachi had actually fallen back asleep on the corner of a bench, shamelessly so by the half of her that draped over the side. Kadabra didn't even bother trying to go back to a table, instead loading her plate at the source and eating right then and there. That left Ampharos and Mawile for those who were here but not present, though the latter preferred to eat breakfast in their room anyway. This had to be the slowest start to a day that they've had in years. 

Even with the matter of sleep mostly out of the way, Panne was far from the mood to be particularly picky about what she chose to eat. Ignoring those already in the room and being ignored likewise, she cut straight to the rows of food that remained and snatched up a plate from the stack. By the looks of things, she might not have been the only one who dealt with a debilitating nightmare last night, though it didn't quite feel important enough to worry about until after breakfast. This was supposed to be the safest place from the Spiritomb they could possibly be, there was surely enough time for her to eat a damn sandwich or something before worrying about when her world was going to come crashing down again. 

Carrying the frankenstein monster of a meal she had assembled from corner to corner of the plate, the Braixen found an empty spot at the table and set herself down. She didn't spend too much time actually tasting her food once she started shoveling it all into her mouth, not that it would have had much taste in the first place knowing her nose was still running. It wasn't exactly meant to be a feast of indulgence, just one so that the day could move along without the constant distraction of an empty stomach. The fact that she actually felt guilty for taking the time to not starve was ridiculous. What was meant to be last night had been moved to today, and there was no allowing that date slip back any further than it has. Vallion was going to get better soon. 

In her contemplative gorging, it took a good moment to realize that Archeops had flown over to her side of the table. She couldn't do much with a full mouth other than shoot him a glance, but he began anyway. "Panne, it's good to know you're alright! I haven't seen you since you left for Serene Village. I mean, that really wasn't that long ago, was it?" He was more awkward than usual, but would soon waste no more time in charging headfirst into the subject that tripped him up in the first place. "Floatzel told me what happened. Where's Vallion right now, though? Is he doing better?" 

"Still asleep," she managed between mouthfuls, apathetic of table manners without Mawile present to scold her on it. 

"Oh, right." Archeops looked to the bare section of table before him and stared as if not expecting that kind of answer. "Well.. has he gotten any of his memories back? What's he like now that they aren't there? I don't mean to pry, I just- I- nobody's been able to tell me anything definitive this whole time. It's all secondhand and I'm not even sure what happened in the first place." 

The answer she wanted to give was too long to mutter past the bits of bread in her maw. The Braixen forced him to wait, eventually gasping to satiate the lungs she had been abusing. "I wouldn't know how to explain it. He's still Vallion, but it's like he thinks he's supposed to be someone else entirely. He also treats everyone like they were strangers, because we are now." She shook her head, bringing another bite just before her lips for when she finished speaking. "I don't know, you should probably just meet him yourself later." 

"What about you, then?" Archeops pressed further, not caring that she was trying to shovel food into her face. "Aren't you dealing with some kind of ghost haunting you right now? I thought you were afraid of that kind of thing." 

Panne looked over. "Have you ever been so afraid of something that the very thought of it made you angry?" she muttered after clearing her mouth again, only getting a shrug of his wings in return. The thought continued pouring from her regardless. "Imagine dealing with something absolutely terrifying for long enough that you almost feel like it's an supposed to be an insult, like the very reason it exists at all is to spite you and only you. That's what it feels like to continuously deal with this Spiritomb breathing down our shoulders. It's hurt people we love, it's threatened to possess us on multiple occasions, and every other hour I feel it bearing down on us like it's a real goddamn predator and not a worthless waste of space in the atmosphere. I hate it much more than I'm scared of it and I want it shoved into the abyssal badlands to rot like it was always meant to." 

Ignoring the startled expression on Archeops' face, she reached down and took a huge chunk out of the last roll on her plate, concentrating on getting her hands to stop shaking with reignited fury. "That bad, huh?" he muttered, keeping his eyes firmly to the empty table before him. She couldn't find the mind to care about how awkward the conversation had become, nor notice how silly it was to viciously chew the remains of her breakfast like it was the subject of her anger. There was no need for her to be possessed when she could just fall into a spiraling irritability by herself. It was of her own accord, but it felt better to be angry than anything else. When the only other options were despair and terror, there was no contest. 

"Do.. do you need any help?" Archeops offered. The sincerity in his tone mostly just stabbed guilt into her chest, which nearly came out as a huff like it had punctured something inside her. It just wasn't possible to keep the charade up in a room full of people who cared. The fur of the wrist that was tightly hugged by the Servine's scarf began to itch again, like it always did when reality came knocking. 

Of course he couldn't help. She wanted her Vallion back, she wanted this demon to leave them alone, she wanted to be less hungry and less tired all the time, she wanted the Hydreigon to finally help them-- the list could go on and on, but none were the right thing to say. "I don't know. All you can really do is keep Val safe and wait with the rest of us for something to happen. That's all anyone can do." 

Panne reached down to find something else to occupy her jaw, yet the tips of her claws only found the porcelain surface of her plate. It didn't take long at all for her to go through the entirety of breakfast, and she made it a point to stack food as high as possible. There was no telling when her next meal was going to be if things went wrong, though there wasn't much reason to be so pessimistic. Still, it didn't hurt to be careful. 

Another distraction would come too soon after as Floatzel finally followed Archeops to where she had sat down. Seemingly too lethargic to walk on two legs, they scurried on three and waved with one to catch her attention. She pushed the plate away and used the newfound space to lean on her elbows, anticipating the lengthened conversation. This was supposed to be a quick meal so that she could get right back to Vallion and make sure nothing else got to him. Sure enough, the water type asserted himself right in. "Archeops, were you telling her about what happened last night?" 

"Oh. Um, no? I mean, that's not really the kind of topic you start a day with. I haven't even seen Panne since she left for vacation, and with all the things that have happened in between, can't I start from somewhere in the middle?" 

She bit down on her tongue, mostly just trying to stem the smarmy responses that bubbled at the surface of her mind. After the way she snapped at her friends back in the village, there was absolutely no reason to explode over this. "Come on, tell me whether I'm supposed to be panicking right now or not. You don't just start things vaguely referencing last night like someone suddenly died." 

The look on Floatzel's face nearly froze her blood over before he could frantically shake his head, realizing why her eyes had widened. "No, no! It wasn't anyone we knew! That- doesn't really make it any better, but you shouldn't be pulling your hair out about it." He motioned to sit down, opposite to Archeops and with her in the middle. "This may or may not actually be related to your arrival, and I really hope they aren't, but I just recently got a report that two pokemon died late last night within city limits. And by report, I mean Ampharos apparently went out sometime in the middle of the night, witnessed one of the deaths happen, and rushed back to shake me awake and tell me about it. I don't even think he's slept yet." A brief moment of quiet passed, his half-lidded stare into the distance easily portraying the kind of hour he claimed to have been woken up. 

"What? Are you serious?" she whispered back. Panne held her head in her hands, the anxiety of leaving Vallion alone for even this short moment coming back around in full force. A sigh blew through her teeth, it was far too early to be freaking out this much. He hadn't even explained how these two pokemon died yet. "Alright. Did he tell you anything else about them after he woke you up? The species, or the time, or really anything he had to say. You should've been able to look at the real reports by now, right?" 

"I haven't even left the building since then, so not at all," he said, leaning back in a stretch before a yawn cut him off. "It was apparently pretty bad, 'cuz the chief told me not to let anyone leave the compound alone. You'd have to go to him yourself to ask what spooked him so badly, but he's probably out cold on the carpet of his office right now. I actually got word of the second death from the newspaper an hour or so ago, which was still warm from the printing machine by the time I got it. There wasn't much more than that, though, so you're stuck unless you want to go wake Ampharos up, or wade through the wind to get to the guard headquarters." 

Something more was happening with the Spiritomb, she had no doubts about it now. It was easy to tell that a situation got bad when even Ampharos starts to get antsy about it. There had to be more to it than that. "I get why you're tired, then, but why does everyone else seem like zombies this morning? Did you go around waking everyone else up afterwards?" 

"Not at all," Archeops answered for him. Though his voice was definitely more airy and heavy than usual, he wasn't having any problems in his sinuses now that she was listening for it. "As far as I'm aware, everyone just woke up this way. Besides maybe Ampharos and Hydreigon, since those two I don't think slept at all. The Hydreigon's actually been zipping all around the compound since I got up. My bets are on the weather finally kicking us down. That's what happens when you get a month of nothing but sun and a typhoon rolls in out of nowhere. It's just bound to happen." 

If the sharp pangs of pain erupting in her stomach were anything to be believed, everything she shoved down her throat had hit where they needed to be. She probably shouldn't have eaten as quickly as she did in hindsight. "You don't think it's the Spiritomb's fault?" the Braixen suggested and snorted a nostril clear, catching a whiff of the soap that was used to clean the table. "Are you sure you didn't have any nightmares last night? Or any reason to believe that something was in there messing with your head while you were in bed?" 

"Eugh, you're starting to creep me out." Archeops shuddered in place, his plumage flaring. "I didn't have any dreams at all last night, anyway. You know, like those blank spots of time where there isn't anything to remember in the first place. I can recall getting to bed, but there isn't much between then and waking up this morning." 

"Hm.. maybe it was just feeding on your dreams, then?" The pokemon on both sides of her took on troubled looks to her assumption, but her train of thought was already too deep to particularly notice. "It makes sense. As big and mean and ethereal as the damn thing seems, it probably still needs to eat like everyone else. Doesn't really explain why I had a nightmare thrown at me and Vallion didn't, or why it decided to kill off two random people instead of any of us. Unless they were accidents, which probably isn't the case. How many people did it even need to feed from? Was it still injured or something?" 

Floatzel spoke up, rubbing his eyes idly. "Panne, chill out. You're going to burst a vein if you keep going on like that this early in the morning. If either the chief or Hydreigon are still up, go find them and hear what you need to hear. You don't really need to bring these questions to me, I'm pretty much the door maid at this point. And all the while I've been getting calls from Mismagius and the rest about how they're sitting around waiting to get home so that they can see you guys. Just go get your own answers out of this, really." He put his head down with a thud, marking the point that she stood up from the table with those very intentions in mind, leaving behind an empty plate in her haste. Swirlix would surely hound her later when things stopped being so melancholy. 

She should have suspected the Spiritomb would get busy while they all slept, but this was admittedly much more than she had anticipated, or really could anticipate in the exhausted stupor she was in. Two pokemon were already dead and they hadn't even lifted a finger in giving Vallion back his memories. What was stopping it from just coming in at night and killing all of them, then? The Braixen skipped a breath as she marched towards the hall with sleepy determination in her eyes. Just before she could cross the doorway and figure out what direction to actually storm off in, the very Hydreigon she sought nearly barreled into her and zoomed right past into the cafeteria. "H-hey! Stop!" 

It took a good three seconds for them to even notice someone had spoken to them, and another two to figure out who it was. "Oh, good! Mew, you.. er, not-Mew. Whatever, slightly-Mew! You go fetch a boat that can fit the three of us, I still need to find more canisters of salt to work with. Hurry along, we'll be departing soon should everything go well!" With that, the Hydreigon twisted back around and dashed into the pantry, narrowly missing the top of Swirlix's head. 

Panne hurried off after them, her shouts having no effect in slowing the dragon down. Their middle head was deep within the pantry by the time she could catch up, sifting around the shelf of spices with their nose and mumbling to themselves. "Hey! What are you doing?" she shouted and thumped his back. "You can't just blast through the halls like that, what if you hit somebody? There's nobody here as big as you! What do you even need salt for? Hey, listen to me!" 

They backed out of the pantry and turned around, a bag of table salt in their main mouth. A side head stole it away so that they could do more than grunt. "What? Surely you own a vessel somewhere in the docks large enough to hold at least a few pokemon. At least forty percent of organizations that stage international activism own a ship or two. The Expedition Society is near the top of that forty, there's no way you worked your way around the planet without at least one." Before he could consider that the end of the conversation, she stayed firmly in their path. 

"No, you're going to slow down and tell me what's going on." Panne bit down on her frustration, rewording the rest of what she was going to say in her head. "Why do you need so much salt? And why do I need to get us a ship? You really need to get into the habit of explaining yourself, not everybody can read your mind." Seeing as how they were dark type, she kind of doubted most psychics could crack into his skull, but she puffed her chest out nonetheless. 

"Huh? Well you've heard, haven't you? We need to get to the Grass Continent if we're going to get Vallion's memories back up to speed, though I'm not sure what that exactly means now that I think about it. Did he mean from when he retained his human identity, or..? Ah, we'll figure it out when we get there." Hydreigon had no trouble passing over her close to the ceiling and continuing on their way. Against the emerging pain in her lower side, she mustered the energy to keep pace, almost breaking out into a jog just to stay at their parallel while they sped from the cafeteria. 

"No, I haven't heard! Can't you take five minutes to actually explain what you mean for once?" It took halfway until the center of the Society for them to halt, nearly sending her tumbling forward trying to match the clean stop. The profanity beneath her breath was mostly masked by the final stomp at the end to stabilize from the fall, but she wouldn't let herself get carried away yet. "There! Thank you. Now what's up with us going to the Grass Continent? What's so important there that we'd need to leave so soon?" 

They sighed, fidgeting to get a better grip on the bag of salt they had stolen from the larder. "You know, I thought I told Ampharos to spread this explanation around already. It takes a lot of time to go over these kinds of things, and now that I think about it, he didn't even seem to be paying attention at all. Isn't it such an inconvenient thing to have to sleep all the time? Surely twenty four hours isn't all that long to stay up for. If he was already up to begin with, why not commit." 

"W- whatever, I don't need the whole thing." She waved away their rambling. "Just give me an abridged version so that I don't have to be in the dark while you send us around doing stupid things for you, like collecting whole bags of salt no discernable reason- Oh, and do you know anything about what happened with last night? The deaths?" 

Their response began with a thoughtful stare at nothing, as was the case for most of the questions she asked to the dragon. The silence thankfully turned into a mumbling response after enough time had passed. "Abridged? How is anyone supposed to understand half of what I mean without at least a rundown of restorative necromancy? Wouldn't that just make everything more confusing? I know it's not a concept that shows up often, but are you sure you wouldn't at least want to hear HOW I intend on pulling his memories out of the aether?" 

She did, but it'd hardly be productive to listen to their rambling when there was so much to do. "Nnn- No. Just... I can hear it later probably. Just stick with the things that happened last night, then." 

"Oh, there's a lot I could tell you about last night. Too much to make sense of, especially since we don't even have a boat yet. We could already be out on the water by now." Hydreigon didn't even beckon her along before they started floating off again, though admittedly at a slower pace than before. It was enough that she could keep up and actually listen. "That Ampharos really does tend to take things quite seriously, doesn't he?" 

"Um, Not really?" 

"Quite the serious fellow!" they continued. "There was no reason to stay up worrying all night, I assured him plenty of times that the ward I had made was perfectly functional. Becoming so restless that you would rather walk around in the pouring rain at night instead of sleep is very much an obtuse and unproductive way to spend your time. Regardless of that, I did try to tag along! The ward was fully functional without my being there, and a city at night can be a very interesting place if you know where to go, which I did! But Ampharos brushed me off in saying that they simply wanted to take a walk alone. While I tend to respect these kinds of wishes, it struck me as incredibly foolish to be walking around alone with a soul-eating abomination like the one you two unearthed drifting about. He definitely had plans to meet with it himself under the pretenses of his own emotional burdens. By no means was it a particularly intelligent plan, so I followed anyway." 

While the Hydreigon spoke, they seemed to wander straight into an unusual part of the Society. More accurately, they were heading for the storage rooms and towards the farthest back room in the compound. There wasn't quite enough space to wonder why this was as the explanation continued. "And I was right to. He eventually found what he was looking for, as I imagine you've been told if you came running to me about it, but he and coincidence were the only things that cared much for the meeting. I rushed forward as soon as I saw he had crossed paths with the Spiritomb, but it was too busy preying on an unlucky civilian whose muffled screaming could barely be heard outside the alley. At least, it was busy until I got there. That was when we got a very good look at each other rather than one sizing the other up from afar. 'Course that didn't last long, Ampharos blew out the streetlights blasting it with thunder." 

The storeroom they arrived in was a landscape of box mountains and the smell of settled dust. She could still hear the wind beating on the side of the building from even in here. The only light they could see by was a tiny lightbulb beside the door, which barely allowed her to pick up on the scrape marks of displaced dirt on the plain wooden floor where mounds of boxes were pushed into corners. In the midst of the markings was a near-perfect ring of white powder that was filled with intricate marking drawn with the same material. A crumpled bag laid in the farthest corner, the same as the salt the Hydreigon carried now. While it was well beyond her knowledge to translate the sigil, it at least filled her with some relief that Vallion wasn't in as much danger as she had assumed earlier. Still, the Spiritomb seemed to project nightmares through the veil just fine. 

"What a blast it was! Nearly knocked me right out of the air!" Hydreigon carried on without even looking back to check if she followed at all. "I mean, it wasn't exactly ideal. There was a lot I could learn about the abomination had he not frightened it off like that. The Politoad it was feeding on was already long gone, anyway, though I suppose he would have trouble knowing that without being able to see through its unbound form. Such a thing wouldn't have even been a problem had he been a Nincada, or perhaps any variant of any species that could see in an infrared or electromagnetic spectrum. Then again, the latter would be an especially hazy view if you tried to peer right through the entirety of the abomination and pick out the pokemon at its middle. There is a lot of electromagnetic activity in powerful ghosts types, especially those who can manifest in a physical form without even having to try." 

"What about the second one, then?" She had to stop them before the tirade took too many left turns. There was apparently a lot to discuss and draw from this, and learning about what kind of pokemon see in what light spectrums was not going to put her mind at ease. 

The Hydreigon finally got around to setting down the bag of salt they liberated from deep within the pantry, then proceeded to tilt their main head at the question. "Hm?... Oh, the Goodra!" the Hydreigon chimed as they ripped open the top of the bag, talking all the while they drew new facets to the circle. "We weren't exactly present for that death, though I can only assume it's another case made by your wretched little follower. It could also just be a passing of natural causes, or a conventional murder blessed by coincidence all the same. You can never really tell with these kinds of things. There are many coinciding deaths all over the world, but correlation does not always equal causation. That being said, I'm over seventy percent sure that it was the abomination's fault." 

Panne sat herself atop a stack of boxes that were all taped together for reasons unknown to her, careful to quickly find her balance before the whole thing could tip over. It felt like she had been asleep for a week and missed everything in between. "Alright. Then what's all this you were saying about the Grass Continent? I don't get why you're so adamant about us leaving for it right away if you've got that giant sigil there." To minimize the amount of damage the Spiritomb did to others, she realized. That's why they would leave early. It was probably only going to keep senselessly killing people in the city if they stayed in here. The revelation continued as she remembered how worried she once was about Vallion trying to sacrifice himself to save others. That worst case scenario was now upon her, the Servine would surely learn what the demon had been doing shortly after waking. 

Despite the newfound despair in her chest, the Hydreigon cheerily continued. "Well we're certainly not in any immediate danger, but it's prudent nonetheless to eliminate any procrastination, and this is a task which requires a bit more focus than most." Upon finally being given the opportunity to indulge her on the topic, a huge smile quickly erupted across their face. It was a wonder why they were even hesitant to tell her the first time. "I had a decent while last night to think about the properties of Vallion's amnesia and how it might be undone. The first and most obvious solution is that you and him consult the Worldcore and dissolve the problem altogether, as surely you have enough want and authority to will the deed into existence, but that's simply too dangerous with the abomination running amok. I'd rather not have that coagulation of entropic souls anywhere near a font of reality-altering magicks. 

"Ironically, the second best solution is near the opposite pole of the planet's magical flow-- inconveniently deep into the Grass Continent. Technically the most difficult part is actually getting there overseas, so we shouldn't have a problem at all once we're on its shores. The ritual itself is nowhere near as straightforward as simply dipping your desires into the Worldcore, but that's the reason I'm here. If we can all survive both your pursuer and the dense landscape until we find ourselves in some of the obscure depths of the jungle, then your partner will definitely have his memories returned... Well, it's more of a matter of 'resetting' him to a previous state rather than just giving him back the knowledge, but all this will become apparent with time." 

Panne looked up towards the ceiling and listened intently to the weather pound on the building once the dragon was silent. Their lecture was well beyond the short explanation she originally asked for. Even if it did leave her a little more lost than before, what mattered was the goal that had been laid out before her and not the questions in between. "Yeah, we can probably manage the Grass Continent well enough. There's an emergency fund for this kind of stuff, and I'm sure Ampharos would let us use artifact looplets for something like this." 

"Splendid! We should really leave immediately, it might put a buffer between us and the abomination. Best case scenario is that we fool it entirely and brave the jungle uninhibited!" They beckoned once more and darted straight for the exit, nearly knocking over the tower of boxes she rested on top of. The Braixen slid down from her perch before gravity chose a different direction for her. 

"Hold on!" she called out upon hitting the ground. "We can't just leave right now! I would very much like that to be possible, sure, but there's a typhoon outside! What makes you think we can even sail through that?" 

The Hydreigon turned, a curve of exasperation in their brow. "What is it with the people here and being frightened of the weather? It's just some rain and wind, why wouldn't we be able to cut through it? If you're so worried about the sails, we could always just board one of those ships that power themselves with steam." 

"What part of 'typhoon' are you not understanding here? There are Society members still stuck in open water because their rides back aren't dumb enough to attempt going straight through a storm. Maybe it doesn't seem so bad in the city, but the waves have got to be horrible out there. The charter service isn't going to let us anywhere near one of their ships if we're just going to wreck them in the middle of the ocean, and I don't really want to throw our lives away instead of waiting a day or two for the damn thing to pass. It's really not hard." 

"Oh come now, that's hardly an excuse," they began with a disappointed look. "I've been on vessels half the size of the ones out in the harbor and survived the thickest of hurricanes while only losing three men at most. There are some very decent odds at play here! And besides, there's no reason to listen to what the charter services have to say about their ships if we just use one of the Society's own." 

"We don't have any," Panne noted soon after they finished. 

That disappointment quickly transitioned into confusion. "What? You're the Expedition Society, renowned all over the world for BEING renowned all over the world, and you're telling me you don't have a single vessel out there all to yourselves?" She shook her head and hummed in response. "Not even one? A half-built one? A bloody rowboat?" Another dismissive shake, they groaned out loud. "How in the world did you manage to make a comprehensive geographical map of the planet's surface without a ship? I realize that mass seafaring without the service of Lapras is a relatively new concept, but even a pokemon as old as me can adapt quicker than that." 

The Braixen crossed their arms. "We're the ones that funded the charter service to begin with. We have the rights to use their ships like they were our own, because they mostly are. The individual responsible for the whole organization is an official member of the Society. The problem isn't that there aren't any to board, it's how stupid it is to take them out right now. Nobody in their right mind regardless of affiliation would let us take a ship under their name into weather like this, especially with our lives at stake." 

"Why does it have to be so complicated? If they were really yours, you'd be able to take them whenever you liked. A vessel is worthwhile only when out on the sea, not sitting idly tied to a concrete pier because of the meekness of others. It's not like they're risking themselves by coming along." 

"We can't take them because that's theft!" she nearly shouted, biting back her mounting frustration from the dragon's stubborn nature, not to mention the situation Vallion was in. "There's a regulated process we ourselves put in place, papers and contracts and signatures and everything else you can think of to keep things in check as much as possible. There was never any plans for the city to grow this huge, these things needed to happen so that we wouldn't end up being a port full of pirates. We'd be criminals if we just up and took a ship straight from the harbor. I don't know about you, and I really mean it when I say that, but I'm personally not impatient enough to go against our own codes instead of just waiting a while for a storm to pass. Vallion won't want to wake up a criminal." 

Hydreigon's face turned serious, his eyes trained hard into hers. "But you are not above such a thing, are you? If I said that we needed to leave at this very second to have even a chance of bringing your Vallion back, would you have these same thoughts of apprehension? Would you be so quick to replace the Servine that exists now?" 

"I would do anything for him!" she shouted back, but the rest of her hesitated at their last question. It got caught in her throat and stuck there without an answer to wash it away. The old Panne would have never gotten conflicted like this. 

They shook their head and looked back to the exit of the room. "Papers and contracts... Ah. Can you really stand to believe in such things over your own love? They are naught but tools for pokemon to gain power over those who are stronger than themselves. I have witnessed many times how the honor and kindheartedness of others can be abused for another's gain. The world is not an equal place, having order does not always mean you have peace." Just as soon as it was serious, the Hydreigon softened and continued the prior conversation as if they had said nothing prior. "You're of a high reputation, aren't you? Can we not just borrow a ship from someone who trusts you and promise we will have it returned later?" 

She bit her bottom lip. "O- Of course we can, but that doesn't change the fact of the storm over our heads. I can't make that promise because I'm not even a very good captain in the first place. If just the three of us went, unless you're already great at sails or steam engines, we probably won't even make it a few miles into the water. Most of the pokemon who are actually good at that sort of thing are still away. Ampharos says he was taught how to sail a ship a while ago, but nobody trusts his sense of direction enough to let him try." 

"Then we'll just have to find a captain, then! Isn't making goals a lot easier if you just skip the worthless formal parts?" The dragon drifted through the door, leaning backwards so that only their main head remained. "Hurry up and meet me in the front after you wake Vallion. We aren't desperate, but there's no reason to hang around here wasting perfectly good salt if we can leave now." 

The Braixen was alone again. After a moment of blank silence, she motioned to lean against a wall and soak in all that had been spilled just this morning alone, begrudgingly revisiting the thought that Vallion might try to take matters into his own hands. Perhaps it was just a matter of her not trusting him enough, or maybe what she was trusting all along was his tendencies. Either way, Hydreigon was going to be waiting at the front of the compound for quite some time. This was something for her to say and nobody else, even if it scared her to no end. She was going to wake him and say what the Spiritomb had done, no matter if it specifically was an act performed to spite him or not. 

A sigh pushed out her nose as she closed her eyes. The day wasn't going to get any slower from here.


	10. The Candle and the Gale

The relentless rain beat against the window as if it were trying to shatter the glass outright. The constant noise completely drowned out the sound of the Servine's breathing, but just seeing his side rise and fall was enough to satisfy her anxiety for the most part. The Braixen shuffled anxiously in place, staring down at the sleeping figure of her former lover from the middle of the room. Every other exhalation that came from her mouth was supposed to be the sigh that marked the end of hesitation, but the rest of her body wouldn't be tricked by a mind that couldn't even convince itself of that. Looking at him from here, there was no distinction between the Vallion that still loved her and the Vallion that woke up a week ago. In the ambiguous throes of sleep, they were simply the Servine she cherished through and through, restfully wasting the morning away. 

Finally she found enough courage to take on the final two steps between her and the bedside. In an attempt to follow through with the surge of confidence before it could end, she reached down to shake him awake, only to place her hand on his side and freeze up again immediately after. Like before, Vallion hardly even twitched in response to her touch-- and like before, the inviting warmth that radiated from his scales reminded her too much of better times. A tiny bubble of laughter rose from her throat during the pause. Why was she even holding back? This wasn't much worse than fidgeting in the middle of the room and shooting glances at him while he's dead asleep. There wasn't much point in resisting every little affection if it was just going to have the opposite effect in bringing him closer. If the very thought wasn't already a trick of the wanting mind, maybe he'd be more open and accepting if she was? 

"Hey. Hey, sleepy-head. It's time to get up," she whispered, gently rocking him back and forth. Just being able to show tenderness at all sent a wave of satisfaction through her body and stood her fur on end. The Servine made a dissenting noise and tried to twist away from her before he opened his eyes a crack, slowly comprehending the waking realm around him. Panne took to a kneel as a graveled hum of begrudging acceptance rumbled up from his throat. She didn't even donate a single thought to the waiting Hydreigon, allowing Vallion several moments to adjust into consciousness and sit up. Once it became apparent that he was able to listen, she began in the same low tone. "Okay. I know this isn't really something anyone wants to hear when they first wake up, but I've got some good news-- which isn't really all that good for being called that-- and I have some bad news." 

He brought a vine to the corner of his eye and rubbed away some of his sleepiness. "Hm?" Finishing up a yawn, the Servine blinked at her. "I guess... Give me the good news first, I suppose. It doesn't really matter." 

Sifting through the scattered clouds of her thoughts, Panne took in a deep breath and sorted them before she began. "Alright. The sorta-good news is that the Hydreigon finally figured out where we need to go to get your memories back. It's on another continent entirely, so we're going to have to catch a boat to get there, except there's no boats willing to go out on the water because of the storm rolling right over us. The thing is, we kind of need to leave as soon as possible, so we're going to have to get ahold of a ship and someone who knows how to actually drive it, which is going to be hard enough as it is. Then we have to somehow survive the trip between here and Grass without tipping over or getting smashed apart by a rogue wave. Once we get there, we're probably going to have to start cutting through mystery dungeons for a while until we get to the place Hydreigon wants us to be. I don't really know the exact spot they're talking about, but they at least seemed to have a good idea, so we'll just have to rely on them for the rest. If we make it that far, trusting them isn't really that much of a big deal." 

A few syllables of a chuckle emerged from his slight grin. "Wow, THAT was the good news?" 

"Hey, I said it was the sorta-good news!" she shot back, but bowed her head for what was to come next. "It's a destination to move towards, and that's most of what matters right now." 

"What's the bad news, then? Should I be worried?" 

It had to be her to say it. This was a weight they were meant to bear together, just like everything that happened since they first met eight years ago. Even amnesia as bad as this couldn't take that away from her. "The Spiritomb went to work last night while we were asleep. So far, we know for sure that it killed at least one person by itself, though there's been news of one more death that we'd be stupid not to blame it for. We can't really say why it's doing this, but I can't turn away the feeling that it's trying to draw you out." 

The earlier smile that graced the corners of his mouth disappeared without a trace. "Wh- Why? I thought you said it would focus on me, why is it going after other people now?" He sat up fully, eyes suddenly open and alert. 

"Because we... it can't get at you in here. We're protected by a sigil, the walls and windows are too thick to sneak through, it's too populated here even with one half of the Society elsewhere and the other half too tired to move-- it just doesn't have the kind of time it needs to get at you while everyone else is around. The Spiritomb's already gotten into your head plenty to know what would cause you to make rash decisions that would lead you out of safety." 

"Of course it does! Why wouldn't people dying because of me cause a rash decision?" the Servine's voice rose. "If I had known this was going to happen if I came to the Society, I wouldn't have wanted to come here at all! I'd much rather have it occupied chasing me around than be safe and let it do whatever it wanted to whoever!" 

"I know, I know!" Panne tried to compete with his excitement, but her voice was more apologetic than anything. "That's why we're trying to head for Grass as soon as possible. It's really not a smart move in anyone's book-- probably the most dangerous thing we've done in years-- but if we can actually manage to get a ship and sail away, I think we can lure it away from the city before it attacks anyone else." 

He leaned backwards again. "And what if it doesn't chase us? What if it keeps killing more people, trying to make us work on its terms? What are we supposed to do if we get through the storm and it's still a massacre back here? I just don't know if that's something I want to risk happening, even after the risk of going out in the storm. It's already proven to be more cruel than we were giving it credit for, why wouldn't it assume I might want to lead it away and keep mindlessly murdering?" 

The Braixen felt her expression turn pleading, but she refused to let it twist the tone of her words so soon. Nothing was slipping yet, there was no reason to panic. "I.. I don't know what we would do. It's a gamble to act at all, but that's why I want to take this chance while it's fresh. If it does work and the Spiritomb does chase us, we'll be that much closer to getting your memories back and still be distracting it from hurting anyone." 

"I don't want to run away. I want to get rid of it and not take any chances at all." 

"You can't!" the yell rose rose past all of her defenses, bursting into the open and weakening her composure altogether. Panne felt her limbs begin to tremble as she clenched her fists. "You can't let it have its way! It wants you to face this on its terms, it's completely prepared for you to do exactly that! We'd never be able to win against it in a situation like that. Either you confront it entirely alone and worthlessly, or it doesn't appear at all and punishes someone else for the attempt." Her ears were stiff, bent backwards from the stress and practically locked into place. "Don't you understand? We can't win if we play by the game it wants us to. It'll wait forever to get another chance at taking your soul, and the only way we can help others is by forcing it to act instead!" 

There was that glimmer in his eyes again, that determined little curve in his expression. For the first time ever, he could look straight at her and hold contact while making that desperately reckless face, and it was one of the most terrifying things she had ever seen. "What's the price of my soul, then, if it saves other people theirs? If it wants me so bad that my death could save the lives of hundreds of pokemon, why wouldn't I take that deal?" 

"Because- because you- Please don't!" Fear began to well up in her chest already and it hadn't even been more than a few minutes. "Don't just throw yourself away like that! We've saved the entire planet together because we let these kinds of sacrifices happen, that's millions and millions of lives! And even after all that, there are still thousands who can personally recall the times we've helped them. None of that would have happened if you let yourself die at any point in between. Death... isn't an uncommon thing-- especially in the wilds and mystery dungeons. Sometimes this is just how things unfold, we can't beat ourselves up over it." 

"Does it really matter if death is common anywhere? Can you really justify someone dying if they're from a different kind of life in this world? They're all pokemon, can't they all feel the same?" 

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted you to.. I don't..." Her head slumped, but it was too early to give up. There was still so much she wanted to say, so much to convince him that there's more to the world than bravery, yet he didn't care at all. She hadn't given him enough reason to care. The Braixen pushed herself to a shaking stand and wiped at her eyes, gathering just enough composure to to sniff away the indignity and hold her left wrist steady as she pressed it towards him. "You can't die yet! You still have to keep your promise." 

Vallion looked down at the scarf and blinked in consideration for a moment, but only just one. "The pokemon I could save, they could have a lot more promises to keep than I do. They have aspirations and love, too, and unlike me, they actually remember the things that made them happy in the first place. I don't plan on dying, but I probably wouldn't mind it if it meant that someone else could live." 

She bit her lip. "I know," Panne whispered back, the cold feeling of falling gripping at her insides. Every Vallion would have said something like that, but the difference was that this one had nothing to make him hesitate. There was a very real chance she'd be alone if she couldn't protect him from himself. 

"...It does feel a little too easy, though. I will admit. I can't imagine this is a normal way I think," he continued. "Hm. It's kinda like... It's kinda like I'm a spirit of justice or something, and it's my job to come over somebody else's body and make them do something courageous they wouldn't normally do. It sounds really dumb, sure, but that's what I think it feels like. I barely have any perspective of what it was like before, so it isn't hard at all to think about giving it all up." 

Without warning, the Braixen pressed forward and grabbed below his yellow collar, pulling him in and having their foreheads come together just slow enough that it didn't hurt. He seemed too stunned to pull away immediately, much less know how to react. The act was purely selfish for her, a failure to resist an impulse that would have worked on him before. She spoke up in the dazed silence which followed. "In a way, you're kind of like a wish he would have never wanted to come true. Sometimes, he would refuse to do the thing he thought was right, not because he didn't want to, but because there was too much holding him back. Things he wanted to see again, food he wanted to eat, people he wanted to keep from feeling sad-- it made him so mad." A pause came over her, caught on the feeling of his breath ruffling through her fur. It was something she missed far too much. "Nobody would let you, you know-- let yourself get caught by the Spiritomb. Nobody in this building would let you even get close to a conclusion like that, and especially not me." 

Finally Vallion revealed his vines, prying her touch away and moving off to the far side of the bed so that it couldn't happen again. It hurt a lot more than she thought it would. "You say that, but we're supposed to sail off to another continent entirely with this storm trying to push us over? Isn't that already as reckless as trying to face the Spiritomb? You're trying to supplement me going after the thing with situations that are even more dangerous for even more people." 

"If you're going to die, I'm not letting you do it alone, and that's the only thing that demon would allow if it had any say. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, that's always been my promise." Panne gripped at the sheets like she would fall to her death otherwise, her nails digging into the fabric. "And that was your promise, too! You said you would never leave me, that you never wanted me to go through the same thing you did when I disappeared. Every night you would tell me that, and you meant it every time!" 

There was a shake to his breath. He looked away. "In the stories you told me, we were the heroes that tried to make sure nobody got hurt. We went around the world helping people as they needed it, and I don't see why we shouldn't be that now. I won't hold back if I can save somebody's life at my own expense." There was conviction in his stare, he was in his own world. 

"I'll physically hold you back if it comes to that!" she shouted in response. "I won't let you throw yourself away for anything less than the world!" 

"What if somebody died because you held me back? What if I had to fight you to get away?!" 

A choke crawled out of her throat. "B- But you don't even remember how to fight! And you're at a type disadvantage!" 

"Yeah, and you're at an emotional one!" he snapped back. The viciousness in his expression suddenly disappeared, replaced instead with irritation as his long sigh joined the heavy air. She wanted to jump across the cot and hold him down to keep him from leaving everything behind, to convince him that there was more to this than the lives of the many, to let him know that she loved him more than anyone or anything else. And she very nearly did give in to that motion, the tendons in her legs tensing in preparation should her brain send the slightest flicker of a signal to launch. Before that twitch could blossom into motion, Vallion spoke up again. "This is even dumber than the fact that we're supposed to drive a ship through a hurricane. No, I'm not going to fight you. And I'm not going to throw myself away, either. I dislike the Spiritomb too much to let it have the pleasure." 

Even after his words, the urge to leap upon him still remained, though it became much easier to resist as she stood up fully and turned away. In the struggle to find a natural breathing pattern, Panne put her hands over her eyes and allowed herself to shiver in excitement. Part of her wanted to apologize profusely, but the confliction which plagued the rest of her conscience buried that gesture entirely. She couldn't pry herself away from her mind. Would the Vallion she knew want to be saved from a scenario like this? Would he want this version of himself to keep going on, devoid of attachment and willing to do whatever it took to save anyone? Surely not, it would break her heart beyond repair if he got killed. Maybe he was just bluffing, trying to boast himself full of selflessness so that he might one day actually believe it. 

"I love you," she muttered, refusing to look back at him. It sputtered on a thousand more times in her head, but the one that fell from her mouth felt like it was said to an empty room. They were heroes, once. They saved the world and everyone on it, but they never risked the other to achieve that. Now they were alone together, and he was trying to be the lone hero in a story of two. If the Spiritomb was a force of nature, was she the villain? "Come on," Panne spoke up louder as she clenched her fists. "Hydreigon's been waiting, we need to go find that ship." 

 

Gravity didn't lessen on her shoulders as they crossed the threshold into the half-lit chamber of darkened artifacts and polished glass. The museum was still brighter than most of the compound-- not by much, but it fought away the emptiness just a little bit better. Panne couldn't help but continue concentrating on Vallion's footsteps as they both ducked under the rope barriers, so much so that she would have walked directly into a corner by now had her muscle memory not taken over. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, some of which reiterated from before with no avail. Despite her best efforts, the news had landed like a traitorous punch. But she could have just said nothing at all and carried on with their reckless task. At least then he'd be able to go on without that confliction written on his face. It didn't feel good at all to be a better person. 

From across the way, Hydreigon finally noticed their arrival and shouted so that they echoed across the way. "Where have you guys been? Did you stop to eat breakfast or something? I've been waiting here for at least twenty minutes!" 

She waved to them half-heartedly, yet continued to lead the Servine to the west wall of displays, eyeing the cases which held the ancient emera braces they uncovered over the years. If they were going to do anything stupidly dangerous, she certainly wasn't going to let them do it unprepared. She browsed the shadowed glass in contemplation of the artifacts that might most benefit them for the coming threats, all the while Hydreigon continued to shout. "Hey, where are you going!? The storm's only going to get worse the longer we wait around! We don't have the time to go on a tour!" 

"Hold on, this is important," she replied almost too quietly to be heard, pressing her nose to the cold glass. Several looplet stands were already empty, their artifact already replaced with a laminated sign reading in huge red letters 'IN USE'. Those who left to search for the Hydreigon in other continents probably expected to go a lot deeper inland than how things turned out. Nevertheless, most of the looplets that had been taken were ones that promoted longevity and efficiency, while she mostly just wanted to ensure the Spiritomb doesn't appear and leave without a chunk taken out of it. Feeling the lip of the table which held the displays, her fingers quickly found a row of five protrusions along the bottom. This lock system wasn't impenetrable, nor was it cheap, but she hardly remembered where they kept the keys to the displays anyway. 

Upon typing the code, the seamless glass door popped open and allowed her full access to the priceless treasures within. With a huff of determination, she shoved her arm into the case and grabbed for the looplets that stood out most in her mind. Her other arm grasped the corner to ensure her stability as she leaned as deeply as she could into the display. With two braces soon loosely hanging from her wrist, Panne pulled slowly back out again. She threw the door closed with a click. There was no use in actually putting up more of the signs. They could see which ones were gone and which weren't, and this was no time to be fiddling around with one tiny procedure. 

"You can just do that?" Vallion muttered from behind while she got a better grip on the looplets she had taken, their etchings obscured by her shadow. 

"Of course. This is our museum, and these are our artifacts. If they have useful enough effects left over from their age, there's no reason not to utilize them. They're not exactly fragile, considering they survived the passage of time long enough for us to find them." The first of the emera braces she held up to the light was covered in glittering silver etchings flowing from one end to the other, illustrating vortexes and gales that melted into one another before the two mirrored winds made a jagged collision in the very center. It wasn't what she would have normally taken for an expedition, but this wasn't a conservative situation anymore. Either they were going to drown the Spiritomb in fire and hate, or it was going to slink away and munch on innocent souls until it could come back and do it again. That is, if they didn't die just trying to get out of port. 

"What are you picking out looplets for? We're going to return here before leaving, anyway." The Hydreigon had come up behind them while she was running her fingers over the silver imagery. "There's not going to be any emeras out at sea. We probably won't even need that much of an advantage once we're actually on the continent." 

She turned to the dragon with both braces in her hands, thinking about the promise Vallion set for himself this morning and wondering how much fire she might need to keep it from turning bitter. "I'm not going out there without preparing for the Spiritomb first. It's probably doing the same for us, what else does it have to do?" Panne brought the Tempest Looplet to her neck and squeezed the far ends together with a click, her scarf the cushion that kept the cold metal away. It was certainly tighter than she remembered, she hadn't worn anything under her looplets since when the original Harmony Scarves existed and her throat was thinner. Not that it mattered how comfortable it was. 

The other brace she was still holding was one that was strikingly blue, embellished with veins of gold that never seemed to have been scratched or dented to any degree. Even just holding it made her feel more awake and healthy. "Here," she muttered, holding it towards Vallion with open palm. "Put this on. We're not going to have anything to put in the slots, but even just wearing it will help us out in the long run." 

"What does it do?" the Servine tilted his head towards the treasure, slowly unveiling his timid vines to take it from her and examine its ornateness more closely. 

Shrugging, she swallowed the self-inflicted lump in her throat. "It just makes your vitality better in general. You can run for longer, sleep better, you have a better pain tolerance than before-- that kind of stuff. It helps more than you think." He fumbled with the looplet for a moment longer, not in examination, but in trying to figure out a place to lock it onto himself. The Braixen stepped forward and placed her hands on his vines, guiding them towards his midsection and bringing the brace together just below his collar. She didn't intend for the action to be as romantic as it was, freezing in place as a snapping sound marked the end of the gesture and when her heavy heart skipped a beat. It didn't take much longer for her to recoil away, but the very second after she wished she hadn't. 

The Hydreigon hummed impatiently, yet it wasn't towards them. Panne expected them to be beckoning her along and motioning towards the exit when she turned around, yet they stared unswervingly at the display text for a golden seed. "Mmm. This isn't a very accurate description at all. And I thought they had planted this thing, I was actually looking forward to remembering it existed and seeing the evertree that grew from it. Oh well, I suppose it doesn't really make a difference WHEN you plant it." They turned back towards them in time to notice their stares. "Ah! So we're finally ready to head off, then? If the storm's gotten too difficult to travel through in your hesitation, it's not my fault, you know." 

When they marched forward, Panne was the one who lingered in the back, her feet dragging on the ceramic as she held her wrists to her chest. The thoughts racing through her head struggled even now to catch up with all that was happening, much less understand the direction she was supposed to go in. She stared at the back of Vallion's head and bit her tongue, fearing more what he thought of her than the overly-daunting task at hand. How could she make herself better so that he would think twice before abandoning everything? What if he did run off suddenly, and there was no way for her to get a pleading word in edgewise? What if she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye? 

Diagonal rain slammed into the ground as they peered from their last few moments of comfort behind glass doors, the very gusts that drove them made visible by watching the waves on the tops of growing puddles. This wasn't even the worst part of it and she already wanted to stay inside and huddle beneath a blanket. The wet and unhappy future was one she had to accept now, for if she decided to step out into that, there was no way she was going to be totally dry again by the end of the day. Her tail might even stay damp for the next few days if she didn't religiously try to dry it herself, and with the kind of thing's they were going to be doing in that time, there was certainly no hope in that. 

"Aren't you a fire type?" Vallion spoke up while she was sent forward to fiddle with the door's lock, as Hydreigon gravely lacked the finesse. "Are you sure it's safe for you to go out into that?" 

Not really, she thought. "It'll be fine. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before." 

As soon as the clear doors were unlocked, a gust rolled through just in time to balefully rattle them in their frames. Panne didn't even risk giving herself a breath of preparation before pulling the door open and having a swathe of wind and cold wash over her. Raindrops were already rushing through the opening and into the building as she struggled to keep the door from flying out of her hands. The dragon behind them began to shout above the gale, a slight upward curve to the corners of their middle mouth. "I told you it wasn't going to get any weaker! Captain or ship, whichever will come first!" 

In hindsight, she should have snatched up a coat or rain poncho while she had the chance, for once they began to trudge forth into the storm, she could already feel the huge droplets of rain soaking into her fur. The buffeting wind forced her eyes to squint tight and her head to hang far too low. When she did look up and try to catch a glimpse of the distance, she saw the grey ocean churn with white ridges undoubtedly taller than her, and surely the waves grew to even more intimidating heights beyond the fog of rain. The very idea of setting sail in such a mess sank into her guts like a heavy stone, but it was inevitable at this point. All she could do now was keep pushing forward against the wind, arms crossed and nose down, waiting for something to go wrong. 

Brick and concrete gave way to creaking planks and logs as they stepped onto the pier. Even just feeling the ocean shift beneath her feet was enough to weaken her legs, yet through the cracks in the wood she could see snippets of the sloshing white foam that caused the structure to tremble in the first place. Thoughts of the nightmare this morning caught in her throat, like at any moment the chaos would start to rise and splash at her legs through the gaps. It became a little harder to keep walking forward at the same pace after that. She could tell herself that the Spiritomb had no affect on her, but her shifty eyes checking to see if the water was rising wouldn't agree with that claim, nor the weakness in her muscles or the quickening of her heart. Even the roar of the gale unnerved her still, and it was nothing more than air rushing by. The demon surely knew by now she wasn't the indefatigable person her youth would have promised. 

Even so, it was soon hers to take the lead as they traveled aimlessly down the docks trying to keep the rain out of their faces. Vallion remembered nothing of the harbor or anyone who ran it, and the Hydreigon really shouldn't be the one in charge of obtaining the ship they needed, so the task wordlessly fell to her to lead them in the right direction. Though it was hard for her to concentrate at such a time, the task of actually finding help in the first place wasn't something she had to think too hard on. If luck was on their side, the chartering center would be unlocked and Pelipper would still be there. If he wasn't already a member of the Society, the price for this kind of favor would have been far steeper than she could pay in such a short time, but there was at least a good chance for this to work out. Hopefully it wouldn't take much time to convince him, she was already starting to get sore from being soaked. 

It was mostly by memory alone that Panne shuffled towards the chartering services. Her senses were strangled enough by the intense weather that anyone else would have gotten lost, but with how the several Lapras who pledged themselves to moving land-borne pokemon from continent to continent grew old and tired, she learned where the building was along the wooden construct by heart. It was a relatively new concept at the time-- there really weren't many pokemon outside of the Society who wanted to get from place to place-- but with trade and stories and culture came a stirring that quickly outpaced supply with demand. If Pelipper had come to them as a business opportunity rather than a meteorologist, things would have probably been different, but she was glad things turned out the way she did now. Of all the people to ask for something like this from, it could have certainly been someone worse. 

She took the pleasantries of their situation as they came to mind, there was nothing else good to think about anyway. Just letting the idle march take hold of her thoughts echoed the screaming gusts in her ears and the hard pittering of the rain. The occasional resounding impact of a ship rocking into the rubber barriers of the dock didn't help calm her nerves much, either. It was common knowledge there was little chance for actual consequence to come from the blows, but the kinetic potential behind those huge objects colliding still got under her skin with the rest of her worries. Had the ships not been tied in place and anchored to the shallow water, each and everyone one of them would have already crashed into one another and sunk to the bottom. 

Finally, after a probably miniscule amount of drawn-out minutes being pushed around by the storm, Panne glanced up and saw the small wooden building they were driving towards. Shivering and miserable, her pace was quickly rekindled from a dejected shuffling to an outright jog. The promise of shelter for at least a little while resonated a long ways in her skittish mind. The top of her peripherals finally saw the closed door with greater detail, a sigh of relief would have fallen from her mouth had the winds not felt as though they were thinning the air she breathed. Her numb hands would wrap themselves around the lever and pull down, slipping on the metal as she prayed. Fortune struck as the mechanism inside obeyed without resistance, and the Braixen quickly pressed inside. 

It was unnecessary to push as hard as she did on the door, the difference in air pressure did most of the work crashing inward and sucking the warmth right out. The first few moments inside she spent clearing her eyes of moisture and hanging fur. By the time she could get a good glimpse of the office, the door had been slammed shut behind her with a great sealing thud once the others caught up, yet there remained a slight whistling regardless. Rushing around to the counter came a surprised Pelipper, still in flight when he saw them. 

"Wha- Panne? Vallion? What are you doing here?" he shouted mid-air before forcing himself to land atop the front desk. "I thought you were on vacation in Serene Village, I saw you leave! Did you actually come through the storm to get here?" 

"We did leave. You're... you're right about that, at least," she replied with a heavy breath, wringing out as much of the excess water from her fur as possible. "Do you not know... about any of what happened? Did anyone bother telling you about the Spiritomb? Or Vallion?" 

Pelipper shook his head. "What? No, I don't really know what's going on at all! I hardly ever go into the HQ anymore, but if there's something important enough going on that you had to come back, I certainly wasn't told about it." The confusion on his face continued to amplify as he stared at the massive Hydreigon who had somehow squeezed through the door behind them. With another thoughtful silence, he beckoned to them with a wing and flew off back through the hall he rushed out of. Stinging sensations still popping up all over her body, Panne limped forward with her tail heavy and low. Her and Vallion entered through the threshold of fire-fueled heat into his office, but Hydreigon could only manage to fit their middle head through the doorframe. 

"Hello!" despite the tight fit, it didn't discourage the dragon from being the first to shout out towards the Pelipper. "If we're here, you must be able to provide us with either a ship or a captain! Or both, if you're generous and wealthy. Surely we'd probably be able to make it worth your while! It doesn't matter whether we're directly using the chartering services themselves or just riding with someone equally as reckless with their own vessel, either. Most anything is good enough!" 

The flying type frowned at them for a minute before turning to Vallion. "Who is this guy, anyway?" 

"Important," the Servine replied before she could steal the question away. "Listen, I've... got a big favor to ask, and I don't know if you're the right person to tell it to, but I'm going to try anyway." 

"Uh. S-sure, what is it?" 

Vallion exhaled through his nose. "We really do need a ship and someone who knows how to sail it, and we need them sooner rather than later. The storm isn't really a factor, or how much it costs or-... We just don't have the option to wait around. Do you think you could help us get those things quickly? Please?" 

Nodding in the doorway, Hydreigon spoke up. "Yes, we must depart for the Grass Continent soon. There is much to prepare for, and it will only become more difficult to launch the longer we wait. It's best we seize the moment while it's still ours, I can't say for certain how long this opportunity will last where the abomination is too busy and distracted to pursue us. I assure you that any property we borrow will be returned, providing we survive the journey and the process afterwards." 

"Wait. Right now? You're seriously going to take off in this?" he said. The Hydreigon agreed heartily, Panne only nodded, and Vallion stared on with the same stoic expression. Pelipper stuttered in disbelief before turning back to the Servine. "You've got to be kidding me. I thought you said you weren't going to do this kind of stuff anymore. It was only a few months ago you two actually finished paying off for that trading ship you tried to sail off in. Vallion, you're really going to go along with this?" 

"We have no choice," he said, stepping past her and drawing closer to the desk Pelipper leaned over the edge of. "It's an emergency. More pokemon are going to die if we don't do something about it soon, and this boat is the only option we have." 

"What do you mean people are dying? Nobody's told me anything about this!" The flying type began to pace listlessly atop the desk. "This is exactly the reason why we have Connection Orbs on other continents! I mean, seriously? Over half of the ships in the harbor could easily get snapped in half out there, and you want to actually go out in that? Why would Floatzel-- or anyone else in HQ for that matter-- let you do something as dangerous as that? I can't imagine you've told them what you're trying to do if you're here." 

Panne found her place to put a foot forward, even if her voice trembled from the cold. "Please, it's more important than that! Something has been chasing us since Serene Village, and it's going to keep hurting people unless we lure it away as soon as possible. I know it- that it's not a very convincing explanation, but it'll be too late if we wait until the storm passes." 

Though Pelipper made the jump back down to the floor, he only continued his pacing in a larger area as a result. "I can't pretend to know what the problem is or how dangerous it's going to become, but whatever's going on I can already tell it shouldn't involve the two of you jumping on a boat and sailing off into the middle of a typhoon to die. I mean come on, there really has to be a better alternative somewhere. Why would you LET something chase you guys all the way here? What's stopping you from getting everyone together and taking it down? If you walked in here with Ampharos and the lot of them, I'd probably feel a lot more concerned about this issue than I do now." 

"Ooh, it has been quite a while since there's been a good witch hunt around here," Hydreigon noted, still peeking in from the other room. "Though I doubt it'd get anywhere with this one. I imagine the abomination would take to picking pokemon off one-by-one if they started to search for it on their own. There'd very quickly be a deficit of forces by which to fight the thing in the first place, not from it killing them, but from those who'd want to save their hides before they were next. A very effective tactic, though it'd probably be less effective now because of established hierarchies of leadership and power." 

The Servine huffed through his nose. "It's just not going to work. Look, I can't let things get any worse than they already are. People are going to get involved that don't need to be, and all of this is my fault anyway. If we're not able to find a way to the Grass Continent soon, we can't just sit around here waiting for something else to go wrong. We'll have to go inland again, or... or maybe we should start a witch hunt, then. It probably wouldn't be too hard to draw it out, I could easily be the bait for it." 

"Val, please. We're going to get what we need, you don't need to panic. You'll never, ever have to be bait." There was a different kind of quiver in her voice, not that anyone would be able to tell the difference. 

He turned his head towards her, a terrible glint in his eye. "I'm not panicking. I'm just saying that, if it comes down to the wire and we need to deal with the Spiritomb, I wouldn't be too scared to do something dangerous. We're trying to go out into open water in a monsoon, aren't we? If we could find it, it'd probably be safer to just fight the thing." 

"Stop that!" she shouted back. "Stop trying to be the hero! Nobody acts like that! You don't- It's not- It's just not fair! Nobody's first thought should be that they actually want to sacrifice themselves, not unless they're already depressed. And just because we came from that legacy we did doesn't mean we're tied to that mentality forever! You don't need to save everyone! You can be a normal person, Val." 

A twinge of apprehension was held aloft in the air, but only for a moment. It didn't take long for him to look back to her with the same fervor as before. "Sure I can, but the Spiritomb's still not going to be satisfied with anyone else but me in the end. So long as I keep hiding, others are going to get hurt in the crossfire. That's the mentality I have to work with. Even if I barely know anything about who I was, that's at least something I can easily understand. I'm sorry if that's out of line with what I'd usually do, but we're supposed to be save at least everyone we can, aren't we?" Vallion turned back to the Pelipper, who had suddenly become subject to the eyes of everyone in the room. 

For a while he stared back at them with an expression just as confused as theirs were desperate or determined. Eventually enough, he did tear his gaze away and start pacing about again. "I have no idea what's going on, who this Hydreigon is, I didn't even know something was wrong until right now. And it's still suicidal to take off in a storm like this, expecting your ship not to topple over or get battered to hell. Even if you did get on a steamboat, you're not going to be in much better shape." Pelipper's pause was filled in with dull wind as the tiny building was ruthlessly beat on again and again. Beneath that was the chattering of her own teeth, for even the well-fed fireplace and her own attempt at drying herself with heat were not enough. Not that it mattered how dry she got now, they were going to have to head back out whether they got the okay for a ship or not. 

"All I ask is that you let me help others. It doesn't even have to be the best ship you have access to, but hopefully at least one that won't immediately bend over to the storm. If it can make it through with a little luck involved, that's enough for us." The Servine's expression was unyielding, beyond her influence entirely. She thought she had tried her best to become friends with him again after the Spiritomb stole his memories, but maybe it just wasn't enough anyway. If Vallion had been confronted with circumstances like these when they first met, would her friendship have been enough then? 

The Pelipper continued to fidget endlessly under their scrutiny, occasionally looking up at the golden Expedition Society badge framed on the wall and mumbling to himself. "You know, you sound a little different than when I last saw you. Might just be from whatever grave situation you're pulling yourselves out of-- Hell, it could be the cold I'm starting to get. I don't know." He shivered and stretched with his feathers flared out in contemplation. "I can't promise anything is all I'm saying. I'd actually really prefer if we took this back to the Society and discussed it with everyone else, Floatzel would probably have my head otherwise if I let you two do something he said explicitly not to. I want to help, but I also don't want either of you to end up dying." 

Pelipper would begin to search through filing cabinets for a survivable ship while Vallion thanked him profusely, but it felt blurred together. Panne spaced out for the most part, standing quietly with a puddle forming beneath her. Another silent spell had fallen over the room. She looked to the Servine with a lump in her throat, but he only seemed to stare out the rain-blasted window and concentrate on breathing. Hydreigon kept his eyes trained patiently on Pelipper as he rummaged in the messy drawers of uneven documents for something they could actually sail with. There was no mutual contact made over the entire room, everyone was looking at somebody or something else without saying a word. It felt like there was a boulder in her stomach, like something had already went out of control long ago and she noticed too late to fix it. 

Even with the fire, it was hard to shake off the effects of the storm on her body. Besides the ache of being too wet for too long, her nose continued to run and her extremities refused to thaw enough for feeling. She'd start to actually get sick at this rate, but that didn't matter an insane degree. The Spiritomb had made her feel much worse in the first few days of activity anyway. Any other kind of average cold wouldn't be much worse to endure than what she's already had to, and here there were plenty of medicines to choose from to expedite the process of recovering. The Society was a wealthy place, the kind of resources she had available to her was ridiculous. The Tempest Looplet around her neck came to mind first, but the thought quickly got caught on the lonely scarf beneath the brace. It was one of the few parts of her fur that actually remained dry, the material of a Harmony Scarf reflected water as well as any other leaf did. She pursed her lips at the symbolism. 

Vallion inhaled sharply through his nose, his back going rigid as he glared out into the storm. Though nothing seemed to be immediately wrong, a sense of dread washed over the silence and would have sent a shudder down her spine had it not been shaking already. Even Pelipper looked up from the drawer and glanced around the room for the source of such an aura. If it were only her who felt it, she could have just bit her cheek and assumed that it was spying on them, but this didn't feel like anything as harmless as being watched. Hydreigon spoke up from the doorway behind them, their voice devoid of the same foreboding everyone else felt. "Looks like those looplets were a good idea after all, Panne. Either you've nailed the lucky guess, or all of that wariness is coming in handy. I suppose I have been going about this a little more recklessly than usual." 

The fringes of the glass began to grow dark like the clouds had solidified above, but it took less than a second for the black to devour the rest of the view and leave nothing but the fireplace to illuminate the room. The Braixen took a step forward and turned to the window with hands raised, and after enough effort, her own flames joined in the lonely flickering. She yelled for everyone to get back, but she could barely hear her own words as the air thickened with pressure. Vallion just yelled in anger and tried to take her side with vines unraveled. Before she could urge him back, the glass pane imploded with a deafening sound and allowed the savage winds to flood in. The fireplace and her hands were extinguished almost immediately, but the darkness couldn't disguise the commotion that broke out. 

Panne managed to catch her fall, feeling either fragments of broken glass or droplets of rain strike her face. But she had been more than prepared to take on a fight, quickly springing back up and igniting light back to the room as she tried to smother the Spiritomb's entrance. And for a good moment it really did seem like she was going to hold it back, but the wind blew her flames right back at her and the humidity weakening the combustion to harmlessness after the initial burst. She didn't even have the chance to retreat before the demon surged inward and took her into itself. Her yell was stifled before it had even began as the gaseous form pushed into her mouth and down her throat. The rest of the mist grabbed ahold of her limbs and pulled her towards the broken window, but it had forgotten the oxygen still left in her lungs. The Braixen bit down on the strange half-solid and tried to expel it with a desperate gasp of fire. The heat was there in her gut, but it would have no effect. 

A thin tendril wrapped around her waist as cold fear began to manifest where confidence had once been. She was struggling just holding the frame of the window so that it couldn't pull her out, there wasn't any room to claw it away. But where she expected the appendage to start strangling her even more, it began pulling in the opposite direction instead. A terrible shriek pierced the thickened air, a jarring impact was made somewhere above her, and the Spiritomb suddenly withdrew from her face, granting her a chance to violently cough and rasp. With the hold on her broken, the tendril managed to start dragging her through the shards of glass and back into light. She scrambled backwards retching until the back of her head collided with Vallion's torso. A door was slammed shut before them. 

The Braixen continued to gag as she pushed to her feet, nearly falling over again after Vallion had retracted his vines from around her. The Hydreigon's form filled the doorway to the office and pressed the force back with their entire weight. However heavy that exactly was, whatever was pounding on the other side had enough power behind it to bounce the dragon an inch backwards with every strike. It hadn't even been five seconds into the fight and she had already nearly gotten herself killed. If it hadn't been for everyone else's help, she would have been asphyxiated where she stood. 

"What the hell is that thing?!" Pelipper shouted as he darted around the entrance, just barely missing her head as she dodged around the side of the counter. They couldn't fight it in here, but it was just as dangerous to try and take it on outside. This was probably the only chance they'd have to get away, but when she turned to call Vallion to her, he had already propped himself up against the door with Hydreigon above him. 

Fastening himself to the environment with his vines, the Servine shouted through the strained wood. "Come and get me, you bastard! Leave the others out of this!" 

What replied was definitely the same voice she had heard in the cave behind Revelation Mountain, but without the psychic hum of Unown to deafen it, the Spiritomb's crowded declaration scraped the insides of her skull like jagged metal on concrete. "WE WILL CONSUME YOU, TOO." She grabbed the sides of her head and recoiled from the noise. The wooden door splintered through the middle with one final crash, and another finishing blow came soon after. Vallion was agile enough to duck out of the way, but Hydreigon was sent backwards into the opposite wall. The shattered pieces of door flew like shrapnel through the air, shattering another window and allowing the monsoon in from both sides of the building. 

Even after a blow like that, it quickly became apparent that the Hydreigon was no stranger to battle. It didn't take them more than a moment to recover from disorientation before they opened all three of their mouths towards the emerging black cloud. Everything nearby where the door once was that hadn't already been blasted away by the wind was savaged beyond repair by the three pulses of cutting dark force, the screeching noise that was produced shaking the very walls. With the Spiritomb receding back into the room like a wounded beast, Vallion had finally been shaken enough to follow her as she yanked the entrance open. Pelipper didn't quite need the same level of convincing to plunge out after them. 

However, the storm was reluctant to invite them back into its wrath, buffeting them even worse than when they had first left the Society. It was such a harsh wind that Pelipper was immediately forced to land and press forward on his own two feet, lest the strong weather pick him up mid-air and never let go. Panne tried her best to block the brunt of the gale with her body so that the flying type could get by a little better, but it was far from running speed they were moving at. When she tried to glance back, Hydreigon had already rushed out of the office and was barreling towards them, the weather barely seeming to have an effect on their flight. They shouted something at her and pointed in the direction of the Society, but she was looking right past the dragon at the mist rising from the gaping building. The Spiritomb was completely oblivious to the wind as far as she could tell. 

While they swooped by, Hydreigon took up Pelipper in their front jaws and hurried ahead with all six of their thin wings beating. And yet, even on her back legs, she wasn't going much faster than when she was bearing the storm on all fours. Her tail was weighing her down too much and the diagonal winds were pushing them away from home. The Servine tried to help her along by extending a vine behind him, and with her claws digging into the wooden ground, it was enough of an improvement that she felt a resurgence of motivation power her along. It ate at the back of her mind that she was slowing him down like this, but it was easy to ignore with the danger biting at her heels. It couldn't possibly follow them into the Society, all they had to do was beat it there and regroup. 

Looking back, she swiftly deduced that running was hopeless. The billowing mass of gaseous black rolled towards them like a tsunami over a beach. There was no way they were going to outrun it with this kind of weather, and if she didn't decide to stand her ground now, that meant the both of them were as good as dead. The Braixen didn't even need to process the thought before she let go of the vine. Vallion's shout just barely cut through the wind as she took stance, sucking in a deep breath and spreading her feet wide. She moved her arms back with palms pointed forward, holding that breath in her chest for a second longer before the heat of an unborn flame radiated out from the tips of her fingers. She shouted the breath away and threw that heat forward with the whole of her back, but the only thing that came was a fleeting spark and a burst of smoke, blown instantly away by the wind. The Spiritomb was at least eleven seconds away by then. 

With another quick breath stored in her breast, she reared back again and felt steam lift away from her palms. The looplet around her neck pulsed like the beat of a heart as she lunged forward again, and from her fingers came a plume of fire that would have been at least been twice her body length had the wind not stolen it away. It'd go much farther forward with a little telekinesis, but it was hard enough to concentrate with the environment working against her, let alone the fact that she could see the impression of the Spiritomb's face within the rushing cloud. Five seconds. She held her arms back and let the rising cinders disappear into the rain. 

The Tempest Looplet tightened around her neck as her teeth grit together, Panne stomped forward and braced herself against the flood of black that filled her vision. The flashing vortex of flame that sprung into existence between her and the Spiritomb sent a huge wave of hot over her entire body before the weather could sap it away. With the speed it was rushing towards her at, probably from having too much faith in the dampening rain, it had no time at all to twist around the sudden combustion. A shadow came over her as the rest of the demon's body arched over her, carried far as the rest of the cloud was suddenly stopped. A headache spread across her forehead and into her temples, but the flamethrower had exploded forward with hardly a bend in its trajectory-- and judging from the way it felt-- had burst out back like a knife through butter. 

She merely had to swing the font coming from her hands to the side in order to cut out an exit, but as soon as she took her first gasp since launching the attack, the flames dissipated into the air. Panne dashed out of the cloud before it could recover and close in around her, taking in as much breath as she could before the next volley. The Spiritomb's ugly scream sounded like the panic of a city as she twisted around to launch another strike, but in the corner of her eye she caught a green shape. Vallion stood dazed only a short distance farther from when she had let go of his vine. She screamed at him to run, but either her voice was buried by the roar of the squall, or he simply would not listen to her anymore. The Servine instead grew a fierce expression from his stunned one and unraveled his vines. Had a flash of black not filled her peripherals, she would have ran to shoo him away to safety. 

With the imbalance of her soaked tail, there was no avoiding the shadow ball before it connected with her lower torso. The energy shattered across her body, the momentum transferring to her mass and sending her sprawling backwards over the pier until her fingers found a crevice between the wood. It yanked at her shoulders and slammed her to the ground, but the ache was almost completely muted beneath her adrenaline. The pang of satisfaction from even just catching herself lessened the pain more as she took to a stand with flames still trying to dance between her fingers. The black cloud to shift threateningly towards Vallion, and for some foolish reason, he tried to rush forward and actually meet the Spiritomb with just his whips. Panne summoned a flash of pain to spread behind her eyes and commanded a stream of fire to unswervingly surge between the two of them. The Tempest Looplet strangled her as the resulting attack nearly sharpened all the way down to almost a beam, only curving a few degrees for its length. What was supposed to be a distraction exploded out the other side of the ghostly mass like she had been using it point-blank. 

The mental price for such a blow flared across the insides of her head like a strike of lightning to her skull. She crumpled to the boards on her own accord, the world spinning in place as nausea gripped her insides. Yet despite the recoil, she glanced up and saw the Spiritomb's amorphous body shuddering from the damage, enough that it didn't even seem to notice Vallion anymore. As much as she could see of its glare within the murk, every ounce of its contempt and attention was directed straight towards her. It was enough to weaken her muscles and put a twinge of apprehension through her chest, but she wasn't nearly about to be deterred by just a mean stare. The only thing that was preventing it from simply looking to the left and attacking Vallion was how much it hated her at this very moment. This was the fight she wanted in the first place, one where there was nothing sentimental caught between her and the demon. 

A thousand voices yelled as the cloud clumped back together and immediately began rolling towards her. The shifting mist rotated the wrong way in some places, parting to launch another two heavy balls of shadow at strange angles away from her. Sure enough, the wind twisted their trajectories in a way that made the act of dodging them more complicated than it already was. Even as the Braixen hit the ground, she felt one of them smash past the back of her ear and leave what would eventually be a terrible bruise. A crackling heat rose to the top of her mouth as Panne raised her head again, unleashing a raw torrent of flame as it passed through the windpipe the Tempest Looplet strangled. With her temples pounding too much to direct it, the storm took full control over the stream as it exited her mouth, yet the volume alone was enough to keep the Spiritomb from engulfing her right away. 

In the pause between where the flame was extinguished and she could take in a quick breath, the Braixen jumped to her feet and took off in the other direction, covering her escape with another brief burst of combustion at her feet. There was only around ten feet between her and the edge of the pier, and it'd be impossible to recover if she were knocked over the edge. Panne turned to run instead with the wind-- and while it gave her a gracious albeit unstable boost, she was running directly away from the Society now. It only seemed like she could manage to disorient the Spiritomb for a second before fleeing a short distance, as well. If she was actually doing any damage, it wasn't within her spectrum to gauge. 

A familiar screeching noise overcame the wind, yet sounded too distinct from the one Hydreigon made. She had only a moment to look backwards at the dark pulse as it traveled through the air in a horizontal wave. Instinct had her twist around mid-air and try to break the attack apart with a flame of her own, ignoring the pleading of her reasoning as the meager plume that fell from her fingers was instantly sliced apart. The shock wave struck her chest and part of the forearm that she retaliated with, piercing deep into the flesh and nearly hitting bone as well as knocking her even further off-balance. it was by some streak of luck that her back feet managed to find the ground before the rest of her, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop her from falling onto her hands and sliding backwards another few seconds. 

The fierce sting of the fresh gashes joined the widening array of hurt she was trying to suppress, her blood finally adding to the rainwater that filled her fur. The Spiritomb was already making another advance by the time she had stood back up. It didn't seem to have been slowed from her attacks at all, perhaps even starting to go a little bit faster out of rage. Even with the wind on her side, Panne couldn't get more than a few shrinking seconds ahead of the cloud without having to duck around the projectiles it fired at her back, and anything with a huge amorphous body like itself was strictly something you didn't want to engage close-quarters. While most of her attacks hadn't been much more than ways to keep it at bay, she had to be making some sort of progress, right? She couldn't keep going on for much longer like this. 

In her frantic path and along the pier's supports were pyramids of crates and barrels that originated from the loading docks. Those which were empty had already been toppled by the wind and served as obstacles to jump over, but there were a few still heavy enough that even monsoon like this couldn't make them budge. In a desperate gambit to gain some real distance, Panne slid to a stop beside a barrel that merely lurched a few degrees as she emptied her momentum into it with a grab. Lifting it on her own was impossible from the start, but in spite of the pounding in her temples, she found that the container could just barely be hoisted into the air with the help of her extended will. Pyrokinesis was an incredibly different process from actually picking something heavy up and throwing it, but the haste of combat allowed her to make the switch quickly enough to toss the densely-packed barrel straight at the approaching Spiritomb. It didn't even hesitate as the container passed right into the cloud like a stone through water. As a final act to try and fix the dire situation she had just fell into, she fired a quick bolt of flame to hopefully ignite whatever was inside the barrel. What spilled looked more like dirt, and definitely wasn't at all flammable. 

The mistake left her with a single moment to leap away before the cloud reared up above. A flurry of snaps and crunches exploded from behind her as the floor she was standing on shattered on impact. Wooden shrapnel of varying sizes flew straight by her head, several of which striking her back but none that she could feel actually sticking in. Upon hitting the ground, the Braixen took off running without even trying to cover her trail with a burst of fire. She didn't make it more than five feet before something grabbed her ankle and yanked backwards twice as hard as she moved forward. Panne hit the ground hard, the air fled from her stunned lungs along with the rest of her power. The only thing that came from her palm as she swiped at the black tendril was a useless wisp of smoke. While she struggled to catch a breath and braced herself to be struck through the pier at any moment, the Spiritomb only swelled and swirled menacingly. 

Her lungs finally obeyed to suck in a gulp of air. Yet as she motioned to burn the demon's hold on her leg, its gaseous whole lurched forward and unleashed a torrent of water from its center. The gasp she was taking filled with liquid in an instant, entering her lungs and completely smothering her fuel, if the flame hadn't already been doused anyway. The sheer water pressure the Spiritomb exerted onto her body felt like ten thousand knives raking across her flesh, a pain so potent that she couldn't have breathed in more of the attack even if she wanted to. When the Spiritomb finally did allow the stream to taper away, all she could do was choke on the liquid in her lungs and curl up from the agony that burned across her skin. It was difficult to think at all, let alone wonder how it had access to a water type move as a floating mass of mad souls. 

Lying motionless on the ground, Panne was certain that the battle was over, yet she could hear loud cracks fill the air that weren't her bones being broken. The shadow over her shifted restlessly as shouts began to accompany the jarring sounds. It was Vallion's voice that tried to save her, his vines striking at a form that couldn't be touched and screaming for the demon to chase him instead. Panne tried to shout back, to tell him to run away and not worry about her, but she just continued to retch from the hurt and the water in her windpipe. The grey sky suddenly opened back up over her and the shouts inexplicably stopped. Panne used the first gasp she had gotten since the torrent to scream for him, crawling from the edge of the gaping hole and bracing herself against the side of a few crates. 

All the Servine could do was run with the wind while the Spiritomb grabbed at his tail, barely missing by inches every time. Every swipe sent a jolt of dread through her aching chest, but when she tried to run after them, her legs immediately felt like they were going to give right out. This would have been the part where she had to retreat away and pop an energy seed into her mouth, but she didn't think this far ahead. This was twice the fight she would have expected to be waged. She was spent, limping and bleeding towards where Vallion somehow managed to dip and dodge around an entire cloud of blackness that was lunging for him in all directions. Experienced or not, his hard terror and slender form did not betray their purposes in helping him escape from danger. But his luck wouldn't last forever, though, and it felt worse than the wounds to be useless. 

It took far too long for her feet to find rhythm without the help of the wall of crates, and still she held her chest and coughed up the taste of iron. The sight of Vallion's clumsy retaliation failing to even make contact drove her a few more steps forward, and seeing the ground where he used to be just a moment earlier get crushed to splinters made steam roll off of her hands. It was hard to gather up any kind of determination when she wanted so hard to slump over and quit. But it was undoubtedly there, a growing demonstration of will that wavered as raggedly as she was breathing. The Braixen had been through straits twice as dire! There were hundreds of worse pains she's had to endure in the past! By the time Vallion finally tripped over himself and allowed the Spiritomb to completely engulf him, there was enough strength yet in her legs to take to a run, and enough desperation in her arms to summon a flame that the oppressive wind violently whipped. 

Panne grimaced as she brought her hands together and made a painfully wide sweeping motion through the air. The infantile inferno sputtered and gasped before her pyrokinesis could will it to thrive despite the storm, dipping her fingers into the growing spiral and grunting with a bruised agony. She couldn't tell where Vallion had been trapped within the cloud, but he was surely going to suffocate if she didn't intervene. With a cracking shout, the Braixen felt the pressure behind her eyes intensify as the vortex advanced independently of the weather and crashed with twice the might she intended into the Spiritomb's form. Already the disruption was apparent, entire chunks of its gaseous body getting pulled into the spin like a blender and ripping off of the whole. She was careful to try and avoid the center where Vallion might have been, but it was hard enough to maintain the continuous motion that fed the fire as it was. That first shadow ball definitely seemed to have cracked a rib or two. 

A glowing blue stream of something came down from above and blasted the Spiritomb into two diagonal halves, piercing through her tornado and all. She fell to her feet and gasped for a painful breath at the release of control, watching the beam crash right through the pier on the other side and dive into the ocean below. Hydreigon descended from the blurry heights above with another dragon pulse growing between their teeth. Another blur came dashing across the distance as she looked down from the dragon, shrouded in a shimmering grey as they propelled themselves across the ground. Floatzel moved so quickly that-- by the time she had seen him-- he was already in position to leap right through the black cloud and burst out the opposite side, dealing damage simply by making a gaping hole in the thing. 

The demon might have been confident against her and Vallion, perhaps even against Hydreigon if given a fresh battle, but it was no fool in the end. What remained of the bottom half of the cloud reared up and expelled the Servine like the careless toss of a ball, the wind pushing his limp body along before gravity forced him back down. Panne extended a hand and shouted his name, limping towards him as quickly as she could without the storm knocking her over. Alarms went off in her pounding head with how still he had become, it looked like he wasn't even trying to breath anymore. A shadow fell over her while she was distracted. There was only one mere moment of warning as a wave of black mist boiled over her. Its center rocketed forward and collided with her torso. 

Her head had trouble catching up with her body with the world flying by so fast, the impact so fierce that she hardly even knew what happened until she hit the pier again and kept on sliding. No muscles obeyed when she begged them to dig into the wood, the slick surface carrying her momentum all the way until there was suddenly nothing beneath her. The Braixen felt her body invert but couldn't take in a breath. She opened her eyes and saw the foam-tinged waves crash against the log supports in front of her. The shock let her bypass the daze and take in a sharp gasp, but she would have preferred to just keep her eyes shut tight. 

Memories of her nightmare rushed back as she was eaten up by a cold world that put pressure on every inch of her being. Open gashes erupted with stinging and the currents immediately began to drag her around like a ragdoll. The panic that pumped through her veins reawakened defiant tendons in her limbs, kicking and clawing to try and right herself against the will of the waves, wherever 'rightside up' was. Already her lungs began to burn for freedom, for the short breath she was allowed during the fall was not nearly enough to sustain the oxygen her muscles were using up. Her mouth only needed to be open for just a moment before icy salt poured in to meet her nausea. Where was up? Where was she supposed to go? 

For a brief second her head somehow managed to pierce the surface. What should have been the space for a refreshing gulp of air was filled instead with vomiting up the water that filled her throat, and another wave dunked her back under just as soon. Even so, she was far less disoriented than when she had first fallen, and could at least reliably struggle her way above the threshold for seconds at a time. Panne was just thankful to be breathing again, but the kind of exertion she needed to even inflate her lungs once was hopeless. Unforeseen waves tried to push her back down into the burning abyss over and over, and she could barely keep from gasping in the sea that filled her mouth each time. It was rare that she actually gained control over where she was going, and for all her skewed efforts to stay afloat and upright, her arms and legs began to slow down. 

As numb to anything but pain as she was, the Braixen didn't quite notice the sensation of being grabbed until she realized how much easier it was to take more than a single breath at a time. Even in the midst of such chaotic currents, Floatzel had plenty of mobility left over to keep her afloat and fight against the tide dragging them into open water, which she could see now was well in the process of doing so before he got to her. It rapidly became apparent that he had to dedicate all his strength to just keeping them both above the surface. They weren't able to move any closer to the pier without chancing a burst of speed beneath the waves, and still the storm kept on tossing them nauseatingly up and down several feet at a time. It was better than drowning for sure, but it felt just as hopeless as before. 

Floatzel shouted something to the sky. A shadow rolled over them in response, but it was a shape she could actually recognize instead of a splotch of black. The swooping grab Hydreigon made was jarring enough to make her retch, but the dragon was nonetheless successful in rescuing them both from the water. After Panne finished shuddering and convulsing in their grasp, she shielded her eyes from the gale and finally got a chance to glance around. The relief of seeing Vallion stuffed behind the Hydreigon's other heads was enough that she didn't even care how high up they were flying. Had her everything not been numb and unresponsive, she would have reached over and embraced him immediately, but it was fine enough to just let herself dangle knowing that they had survived. 

 

"What were you thinking?! I TOLD you I was in charge of the doors! I just didn't think anyone would have wanted to go out into that in the first place, let alone you two! Did you seriously think something like this wasn't going to happen?!" Even while dressing her leaking gashes, Floatzel didn't waste a single second in scolding her. Struggling to even sit upright on the front rug of the museum, his verbal lashings didn't cut nearly as deep as the burning irritation cross her entire body and the bruises and cracks that hurt from within. It wouldn't be until she was mostly dry that the most unbearable of it all would disappear. Until then, she'd have to deal with everything at once, and Floatzel didn't even have enough gauze left on the roll to cover the cut on her chest anyway. "Dammit. Pelipper, down the main exit and two doors down there's a closet. Get the other first-aid kit and get back here." 

Without a word the flying type took off through the chamber with a frantic wings. Floatzel's sigh replaced the sound as it faded away, a breath hardly heavier than the ones everyone was already panting out. It was Hydreigon who stepped up to keep the silence from manifesting, their voice smaller than it had ever been. "Do not blame them them for our absence, it was my doing. I was the one who pressured them into trying to leave for our destination early. I did not anticipate the abomination to be as bold as it was, and my haste to leave port was out of line." 

"You're lucky you're quick," was all Floatzel snapped back with before looking down at Panne, his expression furious. "Honestly, what the hell were you thinking? In what world is it a good idea to run around in a monsoon when there's a monster running around killing people, all while trying to get at YOU?! As soon as you left, I got another update that a third pokemon was attacked by that thing! A Ludicolo, dead in the middle of the street during daylight hours! What do you think I assume happened when I went searching all over the place to tell you about it and you weren't there? What do you think that looks like? You didn't have to follow Hydreigon out into that mess!" 

"If she didn't go, I would have went with Hydreigon anyway," Vallion answered from opposite of her, forced to awkwardly look over his own shoulder from having to favor a side. "Pokemon are dying because of me. The sooner I leave, the better a chance I have at leading the Spiritomb away, the less people have to get hurt. All we would need is a ship and someone who could sail it." 

Floatzel turned their frustration towards him. "What? You were planning to sail away in THIS? Look, I know you don't really have much experience with most things anymore, but... come on, really? What are you going to accomplish after your ship capsizes and you die in the middle of the ocean? Who are you expecting to save then? I mean- neither of you even tried to tell anybody about this! You just up and left without a single word! What if the Hydreigon hadn't come back to warn me as quickly as they did? What if nobody had any idea you were gone, and nobody came looking for you? Panne was barely walking and it had already caught you by the time we showed up. Why couldn't either of you tell literally anyone else about what you were doing?" 

"I.. I didn't want to get anyone else involved. I was scared they'd get hurt," the Servine muttered. 

"And you two almost died because of it! Don't you think that counts as someone getting hurt? Do you not care for Panne getting hurt, then? Does the individual that loved you not count as much as some random person on the street?" He turned back around to the Braixen, the fire in his eyes refusing to die down. "And I still can't figure out why you'd let this happen in the first place! You obviously had the mind to take out treasure looplets, I don't understand why you stopped caring past that if you were so scared of the Spiritomb in the first place." 

She held her head in her hands. The constant shivering would have hurt in her back regardless, and now it only made the pain that was already there even worse. When she tried to force her tongue to come up with an excuse that felt right, nothing came out. There was nothing smart about what they were doing, but she at least knew why she was doing it. "I just wanted to help Val get better." 

"So you let yourselves walk into a storm, trying to hitch a ride straight to the bottom of the ocean? Is that how you're supposed to help him get better?" 

Panne looked up at the water type and paused. She thought about Vallion whipping uselessly at an entire cloud of evil souls, screaming for it to leave her alone. It scared her to death that he would do something so stupid, but if he had been concerned with trying to think in a self-preserving mindset, she probably would have died less than an hour ago. It was greedy to try and make him settle down, like she wanted to keep him safe in a glass box for all time. He really had managed to save a life today. He had done something heroic, and what was she trying to do? "Yeah," she finally replied. "I'm going to go with him across the sea so that he can get better. We're going to leave during the storm so that the mean time doesn't kill people. It's what I would have done when I was younger." 

"You aren't a Fennekin anymore, though! There are better ways to do things than the most obvious and dangerous way!" 

It was selfish for her to be so scared of Val. What he did to save her he would have done for anyone, like the way he was when they were kids. Forget the boat ride to hell, she was the only thing that was idiotic right now. He was trying to be the hero the Panne of the past was. It was the same kind of reckless and thoughtless way she used to go about the world, and all the while she was barely paying any mind to the fact that people were dying in the first place-- only worrying that Vallion would be upset because of it. In her past's eyes, she would have easily been a villain. "We didn't get here without those mistakes, Floatzel. We wouldn't have even crossed over the mountains between here and Serene Village if we weren't trying to kill ourselves over inflated ideals. Don't you remember Entei? How hard you tried to be more powerful than you were, and how much it hurt for us to pick up where you left off? We're here now, but how can we get any farther without things like that?" 

He gave a huff. "This isn't a necessary mistake, this is closer to group suicide. I rose past that mentality a long time ago, and I became the active expedition leader because of it. The point is that I stopped making these kinds of dangerous decisions. Going out alone and unprepared was one thing, but that's a lot more forgivable than willingly doing what you're trying to do." 

"But Val's right! We can't just sit there and wait for the storm to pass while people die! Yeah, it was dumb not to tell anyone about what was going on, but now you know that we need actually need help to do this!" 

"We- It's been less than a few hours, you haven't even given us a chance to work on it! The city's already on advisory, the entire guardpost is working overtime at this point. If you're really so adamant on leaving the mainland, at least just wait until the storm passes. The rest of the Society isn't going to let this thing get at any of you unless you run away from us, and everyone is trying their best to prevent anyone else from being preyed upon." 

She shook her head. "It'll just kill the guards, too! If it can get at people in the middle of streets, do you really think an advisory is going to help?" Panne felt herself start trembling again. "You saw that thing with your own eyes this time, but my bet's on that never happening again. We can't just treat this thing like any other rogue ghost type. Sure, we could hurt it plenty after it revealed itself to us, but it assumed I was useless in the rain, too! Now that it's learned more about what we can do, there will be no more of the same mistakes on its part. If we hold it as anything less than the second coming of Dark Matter, then there will be a lot more than just three deaths by the end of this." 

Floatzel groaned and squeezed the bridge of his nose, looking to the floor for the first time since her and Vallion were dragged through the door. "Geez. You're really trying to justify this, aren't you?" A deathly silence gripped the air and refused to let go. Besides the feeling of liberation, there was an overwhelming sensation rushing over her that she had given up a fight somewhere. Maybe it was just what it felt like to try and revert back to her old self, or maybe it could have been her own will collapsing so that she could have a taste of her love again.Panne hadn't noticed until now that she was clutching the scarf underneath her looplet, sticking her fingers beneath the tight brace just so that they could wrap around the fabric fully. Yeah, that's what it was like. These were the first scarves that bound them together, this was the overwhelming evil that they recklessly charged forth to defeat, and this was the desperate adventure they bonded together on. She was supposed to start over this entire time. 

The water type sighed. "You know, it's been quite a long time since the Society's had to go on one of your kind of missions. Are you sure you want to do this?" To both her and the Servine's nods, he shook his head. "I suppose you're right, the Expedition Society's supposed to stand united as a family, or something corny like that. If you're both going off to do something needlessly dangerous, the chances you end up dying probably lessen if everyone's helping. I really hope at least you know what you're doing. Where's Pelipper?" He only needed to glance to the counter to see the bird low in the corner, watching the conversation from afar. After being called upon, though, they shook to life and darted forward with the bulge of a first-aid kit in their beak. 

When she looked over to Vallion, he already was staring her way with a labored grin on his face, one that she probably wore as well. It was a hell of a price to just feel some sort of connection with him, but she had been missing that smile far too much to feel like it was anything other than worthy. He mouthed a thank you back at her, she struggled to sit up for a moment and grabbed the Harmony Scarf on her wrist for him to see. This was what it used to feel like, grinning at each other while everyone else fussed and worried around them. Finally, she was doing something right.


	11. Voyager's Tale

"What?" Floatzel muttered, leaning in closer to the glow of the Connection Orb. The bubbly voice on the other side demanded something, to which the water type shook their head. "No, you can just call him yourself after this. It's not like he lost his gadget on the way here, and Panne could-" The voice spoke up over him. As impatient as they sounded, the Braixen couldn't quite make out what they were trying to say. The storm outside interfering with the signal certainly didn't help, but from across the table and angled away, it was nearly impossible to understand what was being said. It eventually seemed that Floatzel finally conceded to something, putting the gadget down and sliding it across the way towards where Vallion was sitting. "Altaria wants to talk to you now rather than later, I guess. Just speak into that bit like she were actually here." 

The Servine wrapped his vines around the device, tilting his head as he glanced into the shimmering blue. That same lively voice burst out from the speakers as the pokemon's white image filled the orb, making him wince back an inch in surprise. "Vallion! Why do you have to make me fuss over you for so long? Nobody told me you two made it to the Society! Oh god, do you even remember your name? Somebody had to have told you it by now, right?" 

"Y-yes? I've always known my name?" he stuttered. 

"Oh thank goodness. Sweetie, don't you worry a bit. We'll get your memories back in no time! If this Hydreigon fellow's plan doesn't work, I know plenty of herbal remedies for amnesia we could try out. I could probably fetch a great deal of them, in fact-- from just the outskirts of this little town alone. Oh!" Altaria gasped into the receiver. "Send me over to Panne real quick!" 

He meekly handed her the Expedition Gadget, which once more erupted with sound once Altaria's slightly-distorted image came through. She immediately twisted the volume knob down a few notches, internally cursing at Floatzel for having it so high in the first place. "You at least have your gadget, don't you? You have no idea how much I've worried! I'd have flown over there myself if there wasn't an awful monsoon between us. Poor dear, you must have been dealing with an awful lot these last few days. Between Vallion and the Spiritomb, I can't imagine what- Wait, are those bandages? How did you get hurt?" 

Panne placed a hand over her chest, the ache returning to the front of her thoughts where she had previously blocked it out. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." She shrugged underneath the towel on her shoulders. It would have been smarter to angle the outgoing picture farther up, but too late now. 

"Well look at how much gauze that is! How can you call that be nothing?" Altaria exclaimed to the contrary. "And there's a healing looplet around your neck, too! Ooh, this would have never happened if I had just went back when I had the chance! Does it still hurt?" 

On the other side of the table, Floatzel brought a silent finger into the air and motioned a circle before pointing to his gadget. Considering this was supposed to be a quick passing of news, she understood the gesture well enough, though part of her really did want to keep the call going. "It's nothing as major as it looks, I promise. It'll probably be healed by the time we get there. Just... I have to get back to something. I don't mean to cut you short, but yeah. There's a lot going on right now." 

Even as she slid the Connection Orb back across the tabletop, Altaria continued on regardless. "Floatzel, I know that was you. Listen, remember to tighten the ties on your sails! They'll get loose and really let the wind start kicking you around, if they don't just rip out in the first place! And bring more supplies than you think you need, because you never know how long you're going to be out there! Call me if you need me for anything!" 

"Quit worrying so much, everything's under control over here." Floatzel began, swiping his gadget back up. "Just relax for a little while. All you have to do is make sure the others know to start heading to Grass as soon as possible to meet us there. That'd be Dedenne, Mismagius, and Volcarona on your mind. Just leave everything else to us, and we'll be pulling into port before you know it." 

"Pssh. Sometimes you don't even remember to wake up in the morning for assembly." With the speaker face up rather than away, Panne could actually catch most of what was being said. "At least make sure you're letting Ampharos help out, alright? For everyone's sake? This is too important for you to go all 'expedition leader' on. Don't let it get to your head, mister." With that last note, Altaria shouted her final goodbyes to the entire table before the orb's glow dissipated. With the newfound silence, Floatzel pushed his gadget away and slumped back into his seat, letting loose a sigh of transition. 

Everyone who sat among the populated table shared his feeling of decompression-- everyone besides Panne, who could only nervously glance towards Vallion and bite her tongue. She was sure of it now that a proper calm had fallen, the energy she felt from earlier had abandoned her entirely. No matter how closely she searched her mind for that spark, and no matter how much she tried to will it back into existence, the chivalry that had sprung from her like an epiphany and convinced Floatzel to go along with their plan was gone. What remained in its place was the same hole of anxiety that had been there for over a week now. It felt as though it hadn't even been real to begin with, like she tricked herself into thinking in such a way just to make Val happy for a little while. In reality, that was all she really wanted right now. Not to save the dozens of lives that were at stake, but for him to wear a smile. 

"Alright. Yeah, that's about what I expected." The water type sitting most central of them all sat back up after the moment had passed, his voice breathy and relaxed. "So now that that's done, it's pretty much set in stone we have to sail out in this mess. Now we're absolutely sure that this will draw the Spiritomb away from the city, right?" 

Behind her and beside the table, Hydreigon chimed in. "What it wants most of all is to feast upon a human's soul and reap the benefits of its power, or so I presume. There is no better reason to pursue Vallion so ferverously other than that. The abomination likely doesn't know the whereabouts of any other humans in this timeline, and last I checked, Vallion is the only one to reside on the Water Continent right now. If we left, there is no logical conclusion it can reach from staying here." 

"You know, there's a lot more uncertainty in there than I would have liked," Floatzel replied. "I actually think every sentence you just made was not positive on purpose." 

The Dragon shrugged. "I speak with high percentages, of course, but there is never certainty in fate. Destiny is only a thing to be relied on by the foolish, and crafted by the adamant. Even if we can't tell much about the abomination's overarching intentions, it's at least determined enough to exceed my own expectations." 

Ampharos, who had been sitting silently at the far end of the table and drinking from an entire pot of coffee, finally spoke up for the first time since settling down. "Regardless of what we expect it to do, it's going to continue to slaughter if we don't give it something else to chase. We could continue trying to evacuate people to public centers and shelters as we've been doing, but I've been told that the rain is making things needlessly difficult, and we'd still be no closer to corralling this Spiritomb away from civilization." 

"It's Vallion's call, really," Archeops started to give his own piece. "The Society can run around and try to minimize damage all day and night, but in the end he's still just sitting around here doing nothing. This creature's been coming for him, we'd only be delaying the problem by keeping him here-- even if it keeps him safe. And to be fair, the ship idea isn't all that bad. I've certainly been through worse and came out alright." 

"Wha- It is objectively a bad idea!" Pelipper called out from the opposite end of the table. "Not to say that they would never be able to pull it off, but it's a fact! The largest, most sturdy ships out there are still liable to crash and sink just trying to get out into open water! And even then, the larger vessels are all privately owned anyway. I can't on good conscience recommend you take one of the rickety old charter boats into a typhoon like this. You'd sooner wind up at the bottom of the sea for your faith than successfully fleeing all the way to Grass." 

"Then we just need to borrow a better ship. Easy as that," said Ampharos after taking a ridiculously long swig of his coffee. "It probably wouldn't be too difficult to persuade someone to lend us one, providing we have enough sway with them in the first place." 

What followed was a brief hiccup of contemplative silence, which was ended by Mawile's voice. "Yeah, but the nobles have been pretty uppity lately, haven't they? Before all this, even. It's been one of those seasons, and getting anyone to work with us now that there's a crisis and a storm rolling over them-- that's going to be a real problem. If anything, they're probably thinking about taking their ships and just leaving themselves until the emergency dies down." 

Floatzel stifled a groan. "Ugh, I hate dealing with the nobles," he muttered under his breath, too quiet for most of the table to hear. 

"I know a decent fellow we could ask, actually," Archeops said. "That Toxicroak up by the power plant owns one of the bigger galleons in the port. Sure, it's probably not the best one we could have, and it's no steamboat, but it does have a crew and we have a decent shot at getting to use it. I mean, if he hasn't already been relocated by now, that is." 

It all came back around to Ampharos, whose face brightened at the mention of the Toxicroak. In his distraction, Jirachi slowly stole the mostly-empty pot out from under him with a gentle touch of telekinesis. "Ah, I know who you're talking about! But no, he shouldn't have needed to evacuate. Not with the amount of guards he's hired. His property is probably already an established shelter, or at the very least has the potential to be. If all else fails, we at least have a good place to start asking around." 

"You know the 'stay in pairs' thing is mostly just a hope for the best, right?" Floatzel's idle hands played with the knobs on his gadget while he spoke. "The Spiritomb can obviously take on more than a few pokemon at once, otherwise it wouldn't have went after Hydreigon and three others all at the same time. That's why we're filling entire shelters with people. They wouldn't stand a chance in small groups if it decided to stop picking them off and go for a regular massacre. Two or three hardly have a chance, but over a hundred's a pretty sizable army, even for whatever this thing is capable of." 

"But an army of a thousand martial fighters wouldn't even be able to touch it, I don't think," Mawile said. "Normally you'd be able to strike at the keystone of a Spiritomb, but considering this one is somehow completely stable without one, any physical abilities against it that can actually do any damage may as well be counted as ranged artillery anyway. It's amazing a mass of souls this large can spread themselves so thin and not break apart." 

"It'll be fine." Floatzel stood from his seat and began to stretch, still plainly affected by the sleeplessness of this morning. "There's probably enough pokemon in those clumps that we shouldn't have to worry about it. The guard have a pretty good idea of what we're up against. So Kadabra, you're absolutely sure this storm is going to last? No breaks in the clouds?" 

Nearest to Pelipper at the edge of the conversation, the psychic type nodded towards him. "At least two more days of this. We can probably pick out a decent time to set sail in the middle of it all, but conditions won't be anywhere near perfect until much later, and I can't really see close enough to know when those sweet spots are." 

"Jirachi?" he turned his head to the other side of the table. 

She shrugged, the sheen of coffee on her upper lip. "Same thing. Forty more hours of rain if you don't count the little clouds trailing behind the big ones. For how fast the wind is going out there, it really just seems like it's hanging out over us on purpose." 

A preparatory huff fell from his nose. "Alright. That's workable, I suppose. Now, who else besides Archeops is coming along in actually getting permission to use a decent ship? Keep in mind that we need to check on the state of the evacuation, so it's not a one-stop trip we're going to be having in this stupid weather." 

"I shall go with you," Hydreigon immediately exclaimed, yet Floatzel just shook his head in response. 

"Nope, You're staying here, where we can keep an eye on you. By now the Spiritomb's probably figured out that you're just as important in this as Panne and Vallion are, so it's probably best that you keep your head low. And if it does come knocking at the door, you at least seem well-suited to keep it at bay while everyone else comes running." 

Of course Vallion raised his tiny hand to volunteer next, and naturally Floatzel shut him down even more quickly than the last. "Oh come on now, that's just ridiculous. The entire point is that we can keep you in here until it's absolutely necessary. It was a fluke you managed to come out nearly unscathed earlier, you probably shouldn't try pressing your luck any more.” 

The Servine shrugged with his vines. "I thought I might as well offer, even if I knew it wouldn't work out. But I still want to help out as much as I can. What am I supposed to do in here while you're gone?" 

"Oh, uhh." The water type scratched his head while he waited for Archeops to skirt around the table. "Start helping people pack? Ask around about stuff you want to know? I don't know, there's only so much you can really do without putting yourself into ridiculous amounts of danger. Just stay out of trouble for the most part. I'm sure you'll find something." 

Jirachi sprung up from her seat, chiming in at the same time he finished. "Ooh ooh, let me come! I haven't been able to do anything all day, and I want to play in the rain!" 

"It's a monsoon, Jirachi." 

"Yeah! That's the point!" she replied before drifting between the group of two. 

With nothing left to argue and no time to waste, the squad who would be fetching permission to use a reliable vessel for this suicide mission had been made. With the exception of Hydreigon, and Swirlix-- who had immediately jumped from her seat and scampered off to the kitchen at first chance-- everyone who was to stay remained firmly in their seats. Though there were more offers, Floatzel insisted that a group of three was optimal for not losing one another in the harsh winds. "Everyone who will be going along with Panne and Vallion once we have the ship: get your stuff ready before we get back!" he shouted in the frame of the exit. "Don't leave the building, don't get yourselves killed, all of that fluff!" 

Even if the room was only three people smaller, it suddenly felt as though they were all alone together. There were no words being exchanged between any of them. It was quiet again, enough for Panne to remember the void left where her excitement had been and leave her wanting for the discussion to pick up again. With every face around the table riddled with thought and the passing of time, she peered from the corner of her eye at Vallion again. Where had her energy gone? This was supposed to be a new adventure, they were meant to beat the odds together and start saving people like the old days! Why couldn't she muster up that feeling anymore? It was only a few hours old, it should have been fresh in her mind! What would he think if he knew? 

"What a mess this all is," Ampharos muttered under his breath as if channeling her thoughts, frowning at his empty coffee pot. It took a long moment for him to straighten his lips back to the usual tiny smile. "Ah. It's no big deal. Hydreigon! While we still have so much time to wait, why don't you slide into a seat and chat for a while? We're all here, and it might not look like it at first, but there should be just enough room for you to squeeze down. If you don't mind the angle much." 

"Mmm, I suppose I only would need a few minutes to gather the necessary supplies since I already did so this morning... Very well." Apparently the seating really was enough to support them. As the dragon questionably slid into place near the empty end where Pelipper paced back and forth on the tabletop, it felt as though the room which had been down three pokemon filled all the way back up again. It seemed as though they were on the precipice of a lot of answers, yet she still couldn't help but get drawn back into thinking the same old anxious thoughts. It had to be an outright overreaction, but it was impossible to shake the feeling that she had betrayed the Servine in some way. It wasn't like she was trying to be an entirely different person than how she usually was. All she needed was another drop of what the Spiritomb's attack instilled in her. It shouldn't be necessary to jump back into the raging ocean to earn that adrenaline back. 

"Well what do we want to chat about, then?" Ampharos leaned on his elbows, his neck craning as if still waiting for the caffeine to hit. "There's plenty to choose from, more than enough to keep us all interested before Floatzel returns... Ah! It'd only be correct for Vallion to start us off, now that I think about it. Surely you've got some questions about all this that might still be nagging you. Now's the best time to ask, if any." 

All eyes turned to the Servine, who seemed far too lost in thought to become squeamish in the scrutiny. He honed in on the dragon and blinked. "Alright, I can do that. Hydreigon. What are you?" 

Their middle head tilted in response. "A Hydreigon? What do you mean, are you talking about what I am to know the things I do?" Vallion nodded attentively, to which they lowered their heads close to the table and hummed. "Well it's a longer story than you think, but to put it more simply, I'm just very old. Almost more old than most of the legends and immortals you've ever studied or met. The Voice of Life is what I tend to be called, uncharacteristically accurate for the superstition that follows it in some sects. For the Hydreigon part, there are many facets as to why I am the pokemon that I currently appear to be, but I'm fairly certain that the length of time Floatzel is out won't be long enough to give the subject justice." 

Mawile's eyes lit up to such a degree that Panne noticed it from across the table in only her peripherals. "Is there some sort of religious significance that you take the form of a Hydreigon, then? Is the species itself symbolic, or is it simply personal preference? What capabilities does being a Voice of Life have?" 

"Ah! Those are lovely questions indeed! You are definitely one of the more charming inquisitive ones for certain," the dragon chimed. "Still, permit me to answer them another time. If I don't even have room to explain the reasons and stories as to why I'm a Hydreigon, certainly those questions alone could be worth novels of text. It's Vallion's turn to be answered, after all." They turned back to the Servine, their mood seemingly glowing as compared to what it was earlier. "But to clarify on my previous explanation, this holy status grants me the longevity and memory to know a great deal of things perhaps even most deities might not. If I were to take a unique form, I would likely be indistinguishable from any other figures of worship, provided there would be a legend about me in the first place. I probably wouldn't be as physically powerful, though." 

The Servine continued to stare off into the distance for a moment longer, then-- seemingly satisfied with the answer-- moved on right to the next thing that gnawed at him. "You said you knew the other humans? There are others that live on this planet besides me?" 

"Oh of course! I make it my duty to be personally familiar with every human soul that persists in this timeline. There are none who are actually human in spirit AND body, mind you. They are all like yourself, with a pokemon shell to facilitate their will and enhance their abilities. There hasn't been a true human on this plane in a very, very long time, and they are a lot more fragile than most would give credit for. I wouldn't recommend it over a pokemon vessel to say the least." They stared into space, a furrowing in the ridge of their brow. "Interesting little creatures, you few are. There's never a dull moment with a human around. I can't say that there are many native souls that could possibly get into the kind of mess you're in right now." 

"Have I... Are we going to meet any of them going through the Grass Continent?" 

Hydreigon shook their head. "Nothing's impossible, but I doubt it. Our travels will not explicitly be passing by the homes of any that I know of. There is always the slim chance that a human might be traveling through and our paths would cross, most do tend to drift from place to place with their partners for no better reason than wanderlust. Others reach the limits of their physical forms too soon and become confined to their homes. One of my favorites succumbed to such a fate several years ago, a Serperior whom I personally summoned to quell a premature stirring of Dark Matter. He apparently was gravely injured in a revolution against another human while I had been away, or so I've been told. He had always been one to race ahead of his ambitions, but I doubt he thought they would catch back up to him so quickly." They paused and sharply exhaled from their nose. "The tides of history are often driven by the interactions of humans, after all. I'm sure the day Alexander was defeated was one of the most decisive to shape this coming decade, possibly for the whole world. I just wish I could have been there as a mediator so that the damage didn't have to be so severe. Last I saw him a year or so ago, he was having trouble just getting around town. I hope he's doing well..." 

Panne felt her spine straighten with guilt, her fur standing on end despite the water still soaked into it. She didn't realize the thin ice they had been walking upon this entire time. Vallion's expression was one of sharpened interest rather than realization, meaning she at least was the only one who had to bear this knowledge. And Judging from the obvious remorse on the dragon's face, either they didn't actually know he was the one who fought with Alexander, or they had been playing coy all along. There wasn't a reason to distrust the Hydreigon, was there?... Would they be using this as an opportunity to get revenge on Vallion for defeating their favorite human all those years ago? She kept her face straight and emotionless, yet behind it was an explosion of caution directed unswervingly towards what was supposed to be their guide. Vengeful deities were not an unknown concept to her, and all this from a dark type that seemed entirely trustworthy no less. None of the psychics here would be able to pluck the betrayal from their mind even if they tried. 

While the gravity in the room increased tenfold for her, Vallion didn't seem to notice a thing. "You know how to bring humans into this world? You can just... summon them up, anytime at all?" 

He managed to break the dragon out of their trance. They looked up from the table. "Mhm. Though it takes a lot more than just the thought to actually draw a human across planes, and most of the time you've got to convince them. I can't say I'm personally responsible for any iteration of Vallion over the expanse of years. Your initial summoning during the second-to-last great calamity was frantic to say the least, and your reincarnation was overseen closely by Xerneas themselves. It was a matter which required divine intervention in every sense of the phrase. A thousand years is quite a long time, even for me. Accurately planting you all the way over here in the right place at the right time is a little much." 

"How are you going to bring my memories back, then? What's the process for that?" 

"Ah. That's not too complex of a task, surprisingly. Especially for you," Hydreigon replied. "There is either a great deal of foresight, or an even greater degree of coincidence that you of all humans had your memories stolen. I suppose Panne's extraction from the being of Mew might have made her whole and relatively natural, but you're still very much subject to the properties of your reincarnation-- mainly the whole memory wipe that took place shortly after it. Without that exploit during the reckless ritual which destroyed your mind, you would have been left the very definition of brain-dead. Soul intact with the body or not, the damage you should have sustained to your brain is more than enough to render anyone senile. It's also thanks to that sudden expulsion of memory from when you came to this time that I would be able to twist some threads around and bring it all back into the fray. There are far too many things in a person's head for it all to just vanish into thin air. Where do you think it all goes?" 

Biting back her tongue from asking about her fresh suspicions, Panne spoke up. "That's how I was saved by the Harmony Scarves, isn't it? How does Mew fit into all this? If we're going to the Grass Continent, I assume this has something to do with them." 

Hydreigon exhaled through their nose. "Well, you're not entirely wrong about it involving them to some extent, but only in the similarities between both processes of restoration. Immortal as they may be, Mew is a natural entity in this plane, and are thus react far more leniently to soul manipulation than a human's would. You are- Were, essentially a copy of Mew's consciousness when you were translated over, while the Vallion who sits with us now is the only Vallion that ever was or will be. And since there were two instances of Panne's being at once-- herself and the persisting Mew-- she began to collapse back into the original, more stable entity as soon as the weight of her existence was granted to her. It took a very large chunk of energy from the Tree of Life to actualize the Fennekin again, and that process is very vaguely similar to what I'm going to be doing to return your memories, if a little less costly. All we'll need is something of yours you left behind when you were sent forward to defeat Dark Matter." 

"Wh-what could I have left behind in Grass if I'm the only Vallion?" 

"Your remains, of course!" the dragon replied, their cheeriness to answer the question not at all matching up with the look of unease that crossed the Servine's face. "As I said, a thousand years is a very long time. You could gather up every Celebi zooming around every age and they'd still only be able to move your physical bodies a few hundred years or so with any accuracy. Sending you forward an entire millennia was an excruciatingly precise gambit that could only facilitate your raw souls, and had you not been placed in clean-- though genetically prime-- bodies, neither of you would have had any chance at all to absolve Dark Matter, even more so with the kind of cynicism you harbored towards it with your old memories. Mew only needed to relinquish a piece of themselves, but you had to leave your entire body behind to make the journey. You won't have to worry about what happened with Panne, though. Bones are only bones, after all. Even if they're human and used to be yours." 

"Wait, actual human bones?" Mawile's expression had brightened once more to a distracting degree. "You mean the real thing? Oh my god. Vallion, I don't want to cross any lines or seem weird or anything, but if we actually do go to your grave, am I allowed to- to sketch them or something? At least could I just get a good look? Err- S-sorry. It kinda feels a lot more disrespectful to you now that I'm saying it. It's up to you what you'd want done with them." Just as soon as the excitement appeared did she shrink back down into her seat. 

Hydreigon perked up where the Servine withdrew. "You'd be surprised how unimpressive the human skeletal structure is. Sure, the discovery would truly be groundbreaking, but you still wouldn't have much more than something that looked like it used to be a thinner and more flimsy Machoke. You're probably better off theorizing something a little more magnificent." They turned back to Vallion, yet still spoke towards Mawile. "Of course, if given permission, you're welcome to take a few drawings back with you. The bones won't survive the ritual anyway, so you might as well capture them on paper and memory while you can. Just because it won't be as complicated as giving freedom to a life that didn't technically exist on its own doesn't mean that it won't have a price. But so long as the abomination retains the memories it stole, it's impossible from them to become truly irretrievable from the passing of time." 

"Hey," Val didn't even seem like he was listening before he spoke over the dragon. "Is the Spiritomb really only after MY soul? Is it only me that it wants dead?" 

"Dead? Goodness no! It wants you more alive than ever!" Hydreigon mused. "If not for the lifeblood still flowing through your veins, it would have crawled off long ago to metaphorically stretch its legs after having woke up from its long slumber. It certainly wouldn't have been in the rush it is now. In fact, the reason it extracted your memories but not the rest of you was BECAUSE it hadn't the time to cherrypick. Dead, you are worth as much as any other corpse." A pause rolled over them, one where even a dragon as scattered as they could realize the kind of person they were talking to. "Not that you should be dead, by any means! Nobody here wants a tragedy instead of an adventure, and especially not with the good hands you've put yourself in. And if every human killed themselves at the slightest threat of exploitation, the world would have been lost at least a dozen apocalypses ago." 

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't thinking about it like that! I was just wondering about it is all." 

As much as the Braixen wanted to trust him, it wasn't too hard to tell when he was lying, especially when he had forgotten what his tells were. He surely wasn't reckless enough to use this kind of knowledge, but the fact that he knew it at all unnerved her on top of everything else. If the worst case scenario finally did take place like he kept preparing himself for, the last thing she wanted was for him to think that suicide was actually an option. It shouldn't even come close to entering his head at all. What would he think he was saving if he forfeited his soul entirely? It's the only outcome she could think of where absolutely everyone lost. 

It was becoming too much for her to bear. Her mind jumped from paranoia to paranoia without even giving the chance to try and reason with them. There was too much heartache, even if it didn't seem like it should all be this bad, and the person she would have wanted to help her most wasn't himself anymore. They were in this mess together through and through, he didn't even question or fuss when she forced herself into a seat right beside him when the table was empty. But she still was more alone than she felt in years. Hydreigon had a good chance of being a treacherous liar trying to get revenge on Vallion for what he did at Poliwrath River, Vallion was still on the edge of abandoning self-preservation for heroism, and she herself could hardly even muster a few drops of thought towards the pokemon that were out there being suffocated to death because of all that. Hell, even these vital explanations felt as though they might start to slip right through her memory. 

"I... I should probably go get ready, so I don't have to worry about it later," Panne muttered half-heartedly, avoiding eyes as she took a stand and began motioning around the table and those who remained sitting. The deathly voyage they were about to take was hard enough already, now the heavy pit in her stomach churned as restlessly as her imagination. Arms nervously around her middle and towel hanging down from her shoulders, she approached the exit with an increasing haste. 

"Hurry back if you can. There is still much we can discuss in this short amount of time," Ampharos called out after her as she crossed the threshold into the shady hall and sped away. She didn't really listen, the act of moving so quickly stirred the nausea that had settled in her stomach to rise. The voices of the cafeteria soon faded away as the corridor opened up into the central chamber, her shuffling feet barely making an echo on the cold floor. Panne was soon forced to stop in place at the center and wait for the unease to subside. The heavy gulps her lungs craved only made her chest feel emptier than before. Staring down at the pattern on the floor with gruesome intensity, the Braixen could only concentrate on making sure bile didn't rise high enough to escape, her gasps melding into the sounds of the wind. 

She knelt close to the ground in the attempt to stabilize. As soon as there could be a single independent thought in her head from the eventual calming, it was immediately one of stress and doubt. And they didn't stop at the first, dumping her right back into the same state of mind she was in before spacing out in the middle of the room. Panne sniffed at the air, not to try and find any smells, but to make sure that the Spiritomb wasn't influencing her in some way. Her sinuses were completely clear and painless. Using the testing inhalation she took, a sigh pressed out the same passages as she took to a full stand once more. Things must have really been as bad as they seemed, then. Her head buzzed with pessimism as the next hallway across invited her in. 

There had to be something better she could pull from this. What use was there in shambling around feeling like a hypocrite when there were more important things to care about? Did she really think there was time to feel sorry for herself? Whatever happens-- what betrayals or mistakes or bouts of bad luck end up coming-- was there really any point in lingering on them? It had to be unlike her to do something like that, she certainly didn't do anything like that during Dark Matter. Even the redundancy in beating herself up over it was enough to warrant guilt. What would she do if this kind of conflict made her hesitate to do something momentary and important? What if she was made to be the betrayer? 

The curtain to her room hung motionless in the frame of the wall. The Braixen passed straight through and saw the crack of light she created upon entering be filled with fabric once more. It was just as dark as it was this morning, maybe even darker now. Instead of doing as she said when she excused herself from the gathering, Panne immediately slid down the wall and put her head in her arms. What could even be done? Was there anything she could do besides carry on? It was probably stupid of her to keep running off like this and having panic attacks alone. Ampharos would say that she was inflicting all this stress on herself in a masochistic way, and he wouldn't be wrong. Floatzel would call her out much more harshly on being an idiot, but he's been a lot more strung out lately because of the ocean geography project. Vallion would at least try to comfort her, but this situation wouldn't feel so suffocating if he were here. Not the righteous one that forgot about her, but the Vallion who loved her enough to protect himself. 

She eyed the corner of the room which held her carelessly-thrown travel bag, contemplating the dormant gadget within. There was a lot of potential she couldn't find anywhere else in breaking down If she was going talk someone's head off about secondary things that didn't matter, it probably shouldn't be done physically. That'd just give her another thing to obsess over once the collapse was done. Her joints popped just from moving out of her sitting position on the way to the backpack, the crawl complete with several pauses of reluctant thought. This wasn't what being a hero was like, at least not the ones Vallion wanted them to be. It was stupidity and strength that allowed her to last this long with zipped lips in the first place. It was proof that she could go on by herself, that it wasn't so hard to be the same kind of good without him. And maybe it was ridiculous to actually pretend she could be just as strong without him, but the first step to doing the impossible was always believing in what she shouldn't. 

The reasons for her to withdraw back to the wall couldn't convince the automation in her fingers to freeze any longer. With a click the bag's fastens were undone, a shuffling while her hands searched for the right shapes within, and a silence as she stared at the Expedition Gadget after it had been retrieved. Altaria's parting voice bounced in her head, urging her to call should anything arise. This was a waste of the dragon's time, she thought to herself. It was far from an emergency-- a fit of whining at best. She twisted the right knobs and flipped the right switches despite the contradictions being listed off in her head. There were many things that could be constituted as a waste of valuable time in Altaria's eyes. This especially was not one of them. All that remained was for the Braixen to wait for the glow in the orb to shift and distort, the deed had already been done. 

A sizzling crackle sounded between her hands, the Connection Orb struggled for a few moments longer to pierce the clouds and reach over hundreds of miles to reach its destination. She gulped, realizing she didn't exactly plan on knowing what to say to begin with. All of the circuits that flashed in her head seemed to make sense at the time, but when confronted with putting that dire information into words, there wasn't more than a sentence or two that made sense through the translation. It still could have been worse, at least. This was the right person to call for these kinds of confusing burdens, and it wouldn't be too hard to start explaining bits and pieces of her problems in the apology for being weak and needy. Would there be an apology? Maybe it was stronger to just say it and bear the brunt of her weakness or something backwards like that. 

Her preparation ended as the image focused, Altaria's face was slightly distorted from the weak signal. The dragon glared into her device to see past the darkness on Panne's side. "Huh, hello? Floatzel, if this is about the assembly thing, you need- Oh. Panne? What's wrong?" 

The Braixen bit her tongue in the hopes that it would loosen the right words. Whether what actually came out fit that criteria was impossible to tell. "I... I don't think things are alright anymore. Maybe they weren't alright to begin with. I don't know." 

"Huh? Sweetheart, why are all the lights off? Did something else happen after I hung up?" Having to squint just to see the Braixen in the gadget's own glow, Altaria pressed her face very nearly to the orb itself. "What's the matter? Is everything okay?" 

"We- It-" she stuttered, getting caught on the beginnings of sentences that didn't have ends in the first place. No, she just had to talk. All she needed to do was talk. There was no getting out of this now. "I don't want to take a boat into the storm-- who would ever want to do something like that?! I'm scared of Val, too. I don't like the way he thinks he's expendable, and nothing I say ever convinces him otherwise! He thinks he has to live up to when we saved the world eight years ago! And he's not even wrong, I just can't keep up with him anymore to make sure he doesn't actually kill himself trying. I can't even bring myself to care about the people who are getting hunted around the city because he scares me so much. What kind of hero thinks like that?!" 

"Easy, easy now! Slow down, I can barely understand you through the static. You're going to start hyperventilating at this rate." Panne tried to obey the Altaria, yet the broken floodgate of words in her throat urged her to suck in as much fuel as she could, the heaving reigniting an ache in the muscles of her back. There was so much to say, she hadn't had the room to wait for her body to catch up. 

"Taking this boat into open water is a bad idea!" the Braixen reiterated, more to herself than the gadget. "But Val won't take anything that isn't a suicide mission. He doesn't even listen to me anymore. I- I tried to seem like he was, all confident and chivalrous and all that junk, but I was lying. It was the only way I could get him to even look at me after this morning without him frowning or saying something stupid about helping everyone. But I lied to everyone! I ended up convincing Floatzel to do this dumb plan in the first place because I lied so well! Val's going to hate me when he finds out, too... Aagh! Why can't we just be cartographers for once? Why is he so opposed to that?! It's not like everyone else is killing themselves trying to be the hero! There's more than just that!" 

She was hushed through the receiver, Altaria's voice crackling through the storm. "I know, I know. Calm down, little one. Slow down just a little bit more. I knew I should have called as soon as I heard you arrived at the Society." 

"It's not fair at all!" Panne shouted, the noise bouncing from the walls of her room. "And that's not even the end of it! This Hydreigon was hardly trustworthy to begin with, but now I'm almost certain they've had a grudge against Val this whole time! So they know a lot about ancient magic or whatever, so what? That only makes them seem more like the type that would pretend to be helping just to get at someone they hate. Who else would have the patience to do that kind of thing? Will I have to convince Val not to blindly follow this guy around? It feels like he's going to like me even less if I tried to tell him that." She lowered her head, a percussive fit of profanity falling from her lips. "... Ah. I'm sorry, Altaria. I don't mean to dump everything out on you like this." 

As the shushing died away, the only thing that came through the blue glow was the dragon's perplexed expression and the occasional crack of disturbance. A twinge of regret ran through her chest. Had she said the wrong thing somewhere in that mess? Actually, she'd be a little surprised to find out she hadn't blurted out something objectively idiotic in there. Regardless of how disappointed she felt in herself, the silence from the other side hadn't lasted forever. "Why can't you be a hero anymore? What's stopping you from wanting to help others?" 

The long breath Panne took before answering at least had the intentions of being controlled and steady. "I don't know. I just- it's me forcing myself to feel about the rest of the city. Like right now, I really wish I could worry and freak out about everyone's who's been dying and getting hurt and being forced to flee to crowded shelters, but... It's just not there. And Val-- ever since we found out that the Spiritomb had been killing people, he's been all about saving everyone and using himself as bait. He so wants to be this force of justice or something that it's hard to get him to listen to me. There's no way he totally believes it, but he managed to distract the Spiritomb in person before. It's only going to make him more confident about the role he wants to play. I just make maps and charcoal landscape drawings, we haven't even had a rescue mission in two months!" 

"But it seems like you do care about those people, though. Otherwise you wouldn't be ripping your hair out over it like this." Altaria put her forehead to the gadget on the other side, peering right through the distortions. 

"Just because I want to care doesn't mean I actually have the capacity to try. I mean, it's should only natural to want to do the right thing, if only so your subconscious can justify not actually doing it. There are plenty of evil people who make themselves believe that they're doing good for the world. They wouldn't be able to stomach any of it otherwise. So maybe I'm like that, where I used to be a good person and I eventually deluded myself to think I wasn't more selfish and arrogant. It's a lot easier to see Vallion doing something like this right now, but he's trying to make himself into as good a person as the stories said he was. For me, though, it just makes me a hypocrite." 

"Hey now! You know that's not true at all! Don't you ever say something like that about yourself." the dragon snapped, her words harsher than they've ever been. And just like that, she had the power to transition seamlessly from that anger straight back into sympathy. "If you feel a certain way and it doesn't seem it leads to the right choices, there's always a reason for it. You have to understand that apathy about what is right and wrong doesn't mean you can only ever do wrong from that point on. There is much more to it than that, you of all people should know. With everything you're having to deal with right now, I can't say I can blame you for being distracted." 

"But that's the thing, it doesn't even feel right for me to say that. I obviously should want to protect the townspeople, but the only reason I do right now is because Val needs me to. When I worry about the tiny pokemon who have to cross the town in this storm, I think of how Val would feel awful like he was the one that brought this threat to the city in the first place. I only care about what he cares about, though... it's not like it really matters how much it twists me up. We're probably going to capsize out in the water anyway." Her shoulders slumped, the towel she had forgotten existed slipping onto the floor. "I don't know what to do. I mean, I know what I'm going to do regardless of what I want, but the meantime doesn't make any sense." 

Altaria's frown sharpened. "Well for starters, you can probably talk to him about it. Memories or not, it's something he should pretty easily be able to understand. You seem to have a good idea of what you think is wrong." 

"I tried talking with him, but not since I started to feel THIS bad. I haven't really had a chance to, and it almost feels counterproductive to even try. We're actually heroes. Why shouldn't we put ourselves in harms way so that less pokemon get hurt? This whole running away thing is stupidly dangerous, sure, but it's only going off the slim chance that it's going to follow us away from the city. If anything, it's the coward's way out that has the smallest chance of Val running off and doing something stupid to save a random person. And besides, he blames himself for leading the thing here in the first place. I can only make it worse from here." 

"What makes you think that?" the dragon began before shaking her head. How intently Altaria had been listening to this irrational garbage occurred to the Braixen, and along came another double-edged sword of relief and guilt to stab through her chest. "Sweetheart, you really shouldn't think about yourself so poorly. All this angst is only going to push you away from Vallion, especially if you keep trying to rationalize it. Would a hero doubt herself every step of the way? And maybe you love him too much, maybe it's really that simple. And there's nothing wrong with that. Never in life can you really love something 'too much'. But it is very possible to overthink things, and you seem like you're thinking more than that storm is blowing right now. Knock it off and just say what you need to say to him. You wouldn't keep these things from him normally, would you?" 

No, the first thing she would do the moment something seemed so terribly wrong was talk Vallion's head off about it. But that Vallion wasn't here right now, instead replaced by one that almost seemed at odds with her altogether. This wasn't the kind of delicate situation where she could stop and talk about her feelings. Maybe he has the chance to trust her more after being revealed what a liar she was, but what about the chance he grew farther? He could easily die because of that extra few inches of distance. After all, the only reason they had reached this height at all was because of the both of them acting completely together. Even after Dark Matter, the harsh environments and bored legendary pokemon who tested them weren't holding anything back either. "What if I don't actually want to help people after this, though? Will I end up getting so protective of him that I'll just stop caring altogether?" 

A gust of wind made Altaria's image flicker throughout the orb. "Do you really have so little faith in yourself that you think you'd let people die in the streets? Look, I'm flattered that you would call me for help, but you're being way, way too hard on yourself. Just relax for once-- brace yourself for the boat ride instead of worrying about something Vallion might think. You've got a path to follow where the end makes Vallion better again and lures the threat away from people. There's no use in concentrating on every little thing that comes your way all at once. Take them one at a time, especially that Hydreigon thing, though. I don't know how paranoid you're being about that, but if the thought has merit to be believed, worry about that. Not about the people you're going to save by doing the right thing anyway. Different things are allowed to be important at different times." 

"I just don't understand why I can't feel good about doing the right thing. Sure, there is a lot of stuff distracting me. I get that. But it- doesn't... A big part of me really wants to go off on the rest, and it refuses to shut up. And I know that's stupid, too, not even being able to ignore it. But now it just feels like I'm the empty shell of the Fennekin that stopped the world from ending. How am I supposed to even compete with that for him? Is doing something incredibly dangerous on the hopes that an ancient bundle of insane dead pokemon follows us really something comparable with the stemming the apocalypse? What's the use in feeling good about doing the right thing if it's for the wrong reasons still?" 

Altaria closed her eyes, dragging the empty space out between her answer and the last of the Braixen's confession. There was the slightest raise at the corners of the dragon's beak as she looked back into the orb. "You know what? Just sit still for a little while, you'll be fine. Let me tell you a story from when I was younger. Not quite when I was a Swablu, but not too far from then." Another pause filled the air as inspired thoughts were gathered up, yet one not as long as the first. "See, all this took place around my second lap around the Air continent. I've told you stories from that time, right? About how I became a messenger traveling around making a fortune just skirting over mountains and saying what people wanted to say because nobody bothered with the terrain? It's one of those stories. 

"At one point I had mostly settled myself and my work in the vicinity of this rather large valley-- you probably know the one, southeast region with a big mountain ridge going right through it. Anyway, there was a lot of smaller groups of pokemon around the area that were cut off from one another due to a really nasty swamp mystery dungeon between them all. Most didn't even know they were so not-alone until I came along and told them about it. That made it pretty easy to become a part of the local system since I could just fly over the swamp altogether. News, places to meet and trade, warning and cautions-- those who could not speak because of the terrain spoke through me, and I became very wealthy and famous for it. Not to sound too one-sided, though. I really did take pleasure in connecting these different places and becoming a part of their cultures, and there was a lot I learned that would have definitely helped me on my first journey around my homeland. It was pretty fun to say the least. 

"But as you could imagine, once the tribes started having more active communications with one another, they started to get to know each other a whole lot better. When the wonder and mystery between these far-off communities began to fade, cultures immediately clashed. Though there were a lot of groups that got along great-- some even assimilating into one village after time-- and there were plenty who still acknowledged the others with decency. It was only a small handful that took to screaming and screeching at each other through me, saying some outright cruel things to different pokemon they didn't want to understand. One such tribe was a large collection of mineral pokemon who had inhabited an impressive cavern system leading down to the heart of the mountains. The other, swarms of bug types lorded over by a Vespiquen and her colony in a grove separated by earth and river. Both were rather isolationist when it came to speaking with the tribes of the region, but both in particular would jump at the opportunity to scrape at the other's' throats. There was a lot of tension that came from histories before I got there, but I can't say I recall most of what it was. Only that they REALLY hated each other now." 

Panne kept her eyes unswervingly trained on the bright room Altaria's orb projected, her ears stuck twisted forward. Anything to help drown out the constant drone of the storm outside. "It was only a matter of time before physical hostilities actually broke out between the two of them rather than just vicious name-calling. The whole valley knew that, though most didn't care much for making factions and picking sides. It actually took quite a long time since I arrived, but sure enough, I arrived at the Vespiquen's grove one day and immediately had Beedrills pointing stingers at my neck before I could even touch the ground. I finally convince them to at least give me audience with their queen after several inches of sun passed away, but things didn't get much better down there. 

"There had apparently been a skirmish between Combee gathering nectar from swamp flowers and several rock and steel types, who would otherwise have no reason to even be down below the canopy unless instigation was their objective. Being the staple of communication I was, the Vespiquen demanded that I send a message to the mineral tribe demanded confession, apology, and compensation all at once. I was just the messenger, but I preferred not having my body filled with seven different kinds of venoms all at once, so of course I agreed. It was obvious to anyone with half a pulse that she very much wanted the war with the mountain dwellers to finally come into fruition. It just looks a lot better to be bullying from the high ground than coming in punching. 

"When I arrived at the mineral tribe with my reluctant message of accusation, they had very nearly taken out their fury on me before coming to their senses. They claimed that-- if the Combee had been attacked by types of their own-- the assaulting force was one entirely unaffiliated with their own, and to receive such wrongful blame was a great insult to the entire mountain's population. Now suddenly I had to deliver to the already furious Vespiquen that the tribe she thought attacked her was demanding an apology and compensation in the exact same way she was. At this point, it was already inevitable that something awful was about to break out in the valley. I ended up flying away from the cave entrance that night fearing for my own life in the midst of what was about to happen. 

"At the time, I argued and pleaded for them to uphold peace. The turmoil such a large-scale conflict like that would cause to the valley would have affected everyone in the region. The wildlings who lived in the swamp would have become agitated and start rampaging against local tribes and travelers alike. Allegiances and relations would start bending and breaking down, possibly dragging even more unrelated people into the fight. Passages would be collapsed, homes razed and made uninhabitable, and the local economy made unsalvageable. Most of all, the two warring tribes were as ruthless as they were numerable. Once the battle had begun, it wouldn't be stopped until something close to a genocide had been achieved. Needless to say, I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing." 

Altaria paused, glancing back down at the screen and right into the Braixen's eyes. "But Panne-- of all those things, do you know why I was so hesitant to allow this fight to happen?" To the shake of her head, the dragon continued. "It certainly wasn't out of the goodness in my heart, I can tell you that much. This war had been in the works for longer than I can even remember, and I wasn't much the type at the time to meddle with affairs as deep as that. No, I wanted to uphold the peace of the valley because of my own greed. You see, two rather isolated parties bent on screaming at one another through one messenger are quick to spend their accumulated wealth for just the chance to scream even longer. The Vespiquen colony rewarded me with honey jars in excess because of how much they had stored away, and the mineral pokemon had no other use for their precious stones and metals than to give them to me. This left me with a very, very valuable nest. 

"If either side had conquered the other, they would have no one left to fling mud towards, and my income of wealth would be dashed. Additionally, the successful faction would grow fat and arrogant themselves. They would hoard their newly-gained treasures and would resultingly give less to my own hoard. You know the embellished emera looplet I always wear, the one I told you about in regards to how I actually got the materials for it? This is that story, just the full version of it. It's one of the only things I've kept from all that time ago, over sixty years I think it's been now. You'd think the memory would at least waver a bit after all that time, huh?" 

The dragon cleared their throat. "Anyway, regardless of what selfish needs it was for, I wanted peace among the tribes of this valley. I would end up telling lies and subverting truths, delaying and disorienting the flow of information as best I could while the heat continued to intensify. I reached out to the other inhabitants of the valley at this time, the nomads and settlements and families that would surely be affected by this massive conflict. My voice was desperate and sweet when asking them to rise together and hold this gate back, deceptively so. This was a much more wiley version of myself, after all. But even if my true intentions remained far below the surface, I used my reputation and charm to settle the war before it had even began. With the entirety of the region raving against the aggressions of the two hateful tribes, they really had no choice but to lay down their anger and bide their time until another 'accident' occurred. I don't believe either knew of my efforts in alerting the others, but I ended up getting less rewards from both of them anyway." 

When Altaria tilted her head, Panne could see the group of candles which illuminated the room on the other side. "Everyone else regarded me as a hero, though. I really had succeeded in rallying everyone to stop something that would have tore their homes apart. It was completely undeserved, but they didn't know that. They thought I had done it to preserve the well-beings of the innocent sister groups who would have been affected before they even knew what was happening. Only after that had I started to feel a little bit guilty about why I had done what I done. It was hard work for the better, certainly, but I wasn't thinking much about that at the time." A brief quiet came before a sigh. "Had the incentive of wealth not been there, I wouldn't have done anything. It'd be so much easier to just let both sides wear themselves out, to allow that pressure to burst open and dodge the shrapnel that came afterwards. 'They wanted to fight,' I thought. 'They were doing it to themselves, I have nothing to do with it.' And I wasn't exactly wrong nor right. 

"Do you see what my point is, though? You're allowed to do the right thing for the wrong reason, it's technically no different from doing it for the right reason when all's said and done. Sure, you can feel bad about the whys all you want, but that doesn't change the outcome you got. Nobody would blame you for caring about Vallion as much as you do. In fact, you can be grateful that him being in this state drives you towards doing the right thing. That's a blessing in disguise for sure. And besides, if Vallion still loved you, and he still retained all of his memories, would you really be overstressing yourself in the way you are now?" 

The answer was obvious, but still so much would be different that she had to take a moment to think about it. Like how Val wouldn't even come across the thought of sacrificing himself, or that they probably wouldn't have ended up with this harrowing future to begin with. They might have even been able to take the Spiritomb out altogether if both of them were working together at full capacity. There wouldn't be civilians to worry about because they wouldn't have left Serene Village, and even in the face of evil they'd probably still be celebrating the pact they made with these new scarves. Finally, the Braixen shook her head. "No, I wouldn't be." 

"Heroes are made by other people. You do what you feel is right and just, and that’s just what helps you sleep and what calms your nerves. Whether it's inclined towards right or wrong is how you go about it, and how others see that process. I am a hero for stopping a region from being torn apart, you're a hero for luring away a threat from a populace. Neither of us do it for the most obvious or 'correct' reasons, but the results are the same if we had. Don't forget that you could have just as easily locked Vallion up to keep him safe, too. You chose to take a risk to yourself and make him happier. It doesn't matter whether you're a hero or not at that point, who cares?" 

"Pfft. If I try to rob a bank and end up stopping another robbery before I can actually doing it, is what I've done right?" Panne muttered. 

Altaria shrugged in response, her fluffy wings filling up the orb's image. "Whatever you were trying to do in the beginning, you didn't actually accomplish it anyway. Of course, whether afterward you choose to carry on with what you were planning to do or not is what matters. It'd give you an additional chance to think about what you're doing, at least. If you were being given the key to the city and said that you were going to rob the bank when it happened, perhaps some would get antsy about it, but most would only see that you didn't after all. That's what separates a hero from a villain, at least in these very vague terms. In your case, you need to stop worrying so much and just carry on with what you were doing, you silly little Braixen. Let Vallion decide whether you're still a hero or not." 

"Yeah, yeah. You're right," she surrendered, lowering her gaze to the dark floor. Where her breathing had once been quick and desperate was now slow and controlled, if a little shaky from the slight hysteria. But she was more or less stable now. Everything that scared her before didn't really go away, but they weren't all clashing in her head while she called herself a hypocrite. It could have been much worse. "Thanks, Altaria-- for listening to me and all that. I didn't mean to scream at you so much. I just hope that Val understands." 

"Oh honey, you're so sincere that you made me understand while halfway to panicking and tripping over your own words. You don't need to worry about that part one bit." The dragon glanced over to something nearby a wall the Braixen couldn't see before glancing back frowning. "I'm going to have to leave in a bit. I wasn't quite finished making all the calls to the others, you caught me in the middle of that. Remember that you can talk to me anytime you want, okay? I don't want to hear that you've been bottling everything up again. You better have a smile on your face when you get here." 

She nodded. "Yeah. Sorry I ate up your time. I'll remember." 

"And stay dry! I know how irritated your skin gets when you're out in the rain too long! See you soon!" The gadget flashed and sputtered, leaving her swallowed in the almost-blackness that encompassed the entirety of her room besides the grey window. Those last few words bounced around in her head for a while before she actually decided to take another breath. For once, the emptiness was exactly that, and it was liberating. 

The Braixen set her gadget down atop the collapsed backpack and fell backwards onto the floor, squinting at the charcoal stars on the ceiling. Even if a calm had come, nothing had really changed about their situation. Vallion was still stuck with suicidal levels of impressionability, Hydreigon may have very well been trying to sabotage them, and there remained the workings of a small but hardy hurricane above their heads when they were supposed to sail away. And speaking to Val about how desperate she was probably won't be much easier than spewing out every frustration and anxiety that banged about in her skull today. There wasn't really a reason NOT to talk with him about it, considering how painful it was to hold it all in anyway. But look at how well telling the truth worked out when she told him about the two deaths this morning. What makes this any different than that? 

Her joints cracked as she sat back up and kicked the back out of the corner it had been carelessly thrown into. She came in here on the pretense that she was going to start packing early and not worry about it later, just as a way to take a break, and instead she had a panic attack and got nothing productive done. 'Course she'd probably be able to do more now that she felt calm, but the fact stood that she had been sitting in here for twenty or so minutes doing absolutely nothing. Grabbing a wayward strap of the bag, Panne placed her dormant gadget back into the main pocket and sighed, thankful to be able to think about what she would need to bring along for the journey instead of everything else that hurt.


	12. The Gambit

Commotion ruled in the halls of the Society. Everyone felt ready to depart on a grand expedition, it had been a while since this kind of excitement had filled the air. The final months in the making of the world map had been a constant, boring flow of chores and errands, made possible by the virtue of the relative peace that had come over the Water Continent. Now, an almost tangible energy corralled pokemon from corridor to corridor in preparation for the coming gambit. Supplies and sundries came in heavy wooden boxes to the front of the building, most of which was likely unnecessary but present nonetheless. They had packed tools for nearly every situation, and added spares for the spares, which had previously just gathered dust in the back rooms. What use was there in holding back, after all? How many more dire quests were they going to embark on in the coming years? And if any, how many had the kinds of stakes they were staring down now? Vallion's memories, the city's lives-- if the Spiritomb could gain enough momentum, the loss would be irreplaceable. As far as Panne was concerned, there was no better time to go all-out than right now. 

And yet, despite all that, Panne simply stood in the wings and watched them all scurry across the compound. The museum was to her back and an overstuffed bag hung from her shoulders. She grabbed listlessly at the Tempest Looplet around her neck that had replaced the healing one, mostly concerned with the cramped scarf underneath. Even though her wounds didn't ache as severely anymore, nobody wanted to risk them reopening and becoming more serious. It was a shrewd and conservative move, but it still left her waiting more for the fated departure and fidgeting from her nerves. More than that, the plastic sheet she had wrapped around her tail to repel the rain had finally grown uncomfortable, and the bulging backpack begun to pinch at the muscles of her shoulders and lower back. Still, these problems were preferable to what she would soon face outside. 

She looked over in her boredom, and saw that Vallion had fallen into the same antsy state as she had. He shuffled his feet restlessly, and his eyes darted from face to face as they appeared as if he expected one of them to bring trouble. It wasn't exactly unwarranted to be so on edge, either. Nobody was particularly thrilled when Floatzel came back bearing the news of three more casualties-- two from the strange heat-draining asphyxiation indicative of the Spiritomb, and another from just trying to get across town to a safe haven in the terrible weather. The impact of the news hit the Servine as hard as she thought it would, and now his lips were even tighter than usual. She had originally hoped for an opportunity to open up to him before leaving, to express the reason she was going through with this at all, but it would have to wait. 

The museum itself was filled with faces far less familiar than the ones who prowled the halls with crates and boxes. As Archeops had mentioned, the galleon they were after did indeed have a regular crew who manned it, and none of them were particularly cheerful with they task they had been given. Panne shot regular glances over her shoulder to look at them, but the sailors continued to do nothing more but stand idly and wait for the rest of the Society. They were rugged folk with tired features. Even the more traditionally endearing species seemed to carry hardened expressions. Most guilty of this phenomenon was a staunch Clefable, who was apparently the captain of the ship. The rest of the twelve patient crewmen consisted mostly of fighting and normal types, along with a few outliers like a Reuniclus and Comfey. It wouldn't be long before they all were forced to tromp back out into the downpour and push their way to the boat. 

One by one, the Society gathered to join her and Vallion in their feverish wait for the clock to tick down. Mawile was the first to finish up, the pack that hung on her side made square from the books she had shoved inside. Next came Hydreigon, who held in one of their jaws a borrowed burlap sack filled with the strange reagents and ingredients they had liberated from around the compound. It was a mere few minutes from then that the entire population of the building had managed to successfully meet. The museum, closed as it could possibly be at a time like this, thrived with an unnatural energy as final adjustments and equipment checks were made. It was an overstated production for certain, and Val definitely felt the pressure for being the center of gravity for it all. 

"For you guys!" Panne heard Swirlix exclaim amidst the constant murmurs and dulled winds. Upon looking down, she saw the fairy deep in the process of nudging tightly wrapped baskets towards them. Through the clear plastic sheets she recognized at least a dozen types of baked goods, some she wasn't even aware Swirlix knew how to make. Muffins, cookies, biscuits-- she could even spot some donuts sitting beneath the bulk of it. Did they even have a fryer to cook donuts? It was a mouthwatering sight nonetheless, she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. 

"Aw, Swirlix! What's all this for?" Panne whined as her stomach growled with approval. 

The fairy wore a toothy grin, obviously very pleased with the gift's reception. "Well you're both trying hard, aren't you? This was supposed to be a vacation, and look at all the stuff that's going on now! Everyone's running around, worrying about this and that, and I was still just trying to relax! So I decided that I should start doing something, too." Another nudge placed the baskets directly at their feet. "I almost didn't get everything done, there was barely enough time for me to wrap them. I didn't even eat anything out of them this time! There's no extras after this, though." 

After having let her heavy bag slide from her shoulders to the floor, Panne took the gluttonous ball of fluff into her arms, wincing only slightly from the pain. "Oh come on, you didn't have to do any of that! I was just going to munch on some of the dry rations after we got on the ship." The smell of sweet dough nearly sent a shiver of hunger down her spine, yet she held the embrace. "Thanks, though. I really needed something like that." 

Swirlix wiggled free of her grasp, blinked at her with that wide smile intact, then looked over to Vallion. The Servine seemed a little stunned himself, though it could have just been the alluring scents that distracted him. But once the spell had been broken, the two locked eyes for an awkwardly long stretch of time before anyone else spoke. Whatever information they gathered from sizing the other up, it was apparently adequate enough for the pleasantries to continue. 

"I don't know if you still like them-" Swirlix continued. "-but I baked some more sitrus bread than usual. But I mean, if you really just don't anymore and you come back with some left, I wouldn't mind it that much. You don't have to eat the WHOLE thing if you don't want to, you know? I wouldn't want my present to burden you, or make you think that you have to clean the whole basket out. I don't mind that much." Her winking was audible, but the kindheartedness still remained. 

The Braixen kept the warm feeling close to her chest and undid the clasps of her abused backpack. It was difficult enough to pack the first time around, as there was little she actually knew to prepare for, but trading out a secondary towel for a whole basket of food that bordered closer to dessert than dinner was an incredibly easy decision compared to the rest. It was hardly a loss despite the potential convenience, and what morale boost could an old white piece of cloth offer? Seldom could Swirlix ever manage to craft a culinary gift without lying about its original size, and this was well within that margin of rarity and pleasant surprise. 

From then, the Society and sailors finally merged into a single group. The supplies they had meticulously put down were swiped right up again and balanced in strong grips and on even stronger backs. Panne tightened the Harmony Scarves once more and double-checked that Vallion had fastened his bag an adequate amount. The air was beginning to thicken. Feet tapped amongst the shuffling wordlessness, and eyes darted constantly towards the glass doors as they rattled in defiance of the storm. They had to risk getting out of port in some of the worst possible conditions before they could even take the gamble in assuming the Spiritomb would follow. And if it didn't, there'd be a monster billowing through the streets of Lively City and nearly everyone would be out of position to minimize the damage. That knowledge weighed heavily on them both, but Vallion didn't have enough perspective. That anxiety was nearly all he knew. 

"That should about do it, I think," even Ampharos' voice had an edge to it. As he spoke, a divide split the group in two. On the inner side of the museum were those who elected to stay with the compound. Pelipper, who wanted nothing to do with the storm and even less with being alone after what happened; Floatzel, who took it upon himself to watch over the headquarters and the city once Ampharos was absent; Swirlix, who rarely ever wanted to leave on these kinds of things anyway; and Archeops, who had whispered his concerns about Floatzel to her while nobody else was listening. Twelve crewman and six explorers stood opposite to them, but she couldn't tell which were better off in the end. 

"It's not going to be a certain thing, you know," Pelipper began, more to Vallion than anyone else. "This ship was built to pierce storms, sure, but there isn't a vessel anywhere that can take on a rogue wave that was built up in something like this. It doesn't matter how well your launch goes if fortune isn't on your side." 

"Ya think we don't know that?" It was the Clefable who replied, their voice jarring when matched to their face. It was laced with an accent she could only assume originated from coastal Air Continent. "This certainly isn't the first time we've shoved off port with a foot halfway in the door to hell, and I doubt it's goin' to be the last. Still feels better than sittin' around waiting for some juiced-up Spiritomb to pluck us up, anyway. A few more days a' this and we woulda just left by ourselves." 

It didn't really seem like they knew this was a trick to lure the Spiritomb away from civilization rather than escape from it. Panne bit her tongue, wary of the deal Floatzel had struck with the Toxicroak and what was actually known among them. It was best to just keep quiet anyway, she concluded-- wait until they were past the storm before stirring up trouble. This might not be the most stable of arrangements. 

With hushed prayers and after being bid good luck, they all motioned towards the exit. The envious atmosphere outside didn't hesitate to rush in once the glass doors were unlocked and released. She felt the change in pressure travel down her spine and force loose the anticipation in her lungs. One by one they went, their heads tucked low as they pressed into the whistling roar. Vallion stuck close to her side as the party navigated their way down the front steps. The rain might as well have been hail for how hard it pelted on her, but she was used to the downpour by now. Even getting drenched for the second time today didn't feel as annoying as it should have. What difference was it going to make? The irritation hardly bothered her as much as this plan did. 

The Society trailed in the back of the group with her and Vallion sandwiched protectively in the middle, though she doubted the Spiritomb would mindlessly rush at them again with the numbers they possessed now. Even with the sky growing as dark as it was, there was little sense in biting off more than it could chew twice in one day. If they were to depart an hour or two later, though, this might have been a very different scenario. Just getting to the ship in the first place would be a nightmare. Not even the highest quality enclosed lanterns would survive the trip still burning. There was no way she'd agree to walk out onto that pier in the pitch black of night, let alone try boarding a boat in a horrible squall while a demon was breathing down their necks. 

Any sounds of effort anyone made were already snuffed out before the vibrations could even touch air. The floor beneath their feet made the transition from brick to wood, and just like earlier, the docks trembled and creaked from nature's relentless assault upon it. All she could really do at this point was keep hoping that all of the stars align in just the right ways. There was nothing her flames could possibly contribute, even less the meager pull of her telekinesis. She'd probably get a migraine even trying to keep up with the crew. Whatever happened back near Sunrise Pass messed something up bad in her head, she had nearly passed out just trying to keep her fire from being blown away earlier. In this rain, she was as good as useless for anything other than carrying boxes around, and even then she was smaller than most of the pokemon here. 

To rub it in, remnants of the battle which had taken place earlier that day laid conspicuously in their path. They saw scorch marks, scattered barrels and debris, and the perilous splintered holes where the Spiritomb had solidified and smashed down into the pier. The sailors hardly bat an eye towards the carnage as if it was something so mundane that they couldn't be bothered, but the rest of them stared in nervous reverence as they passed by. Val kept his head low to the ground, squinting at his path and seemingly apathetic of the damages other than in avoiding them. There was a lot that could have been on his mind, not counting the game of chance they were about to play with the sea. Maybe it was more pleasant to be lost in his own mind than stuck out here. 

The group turned as one onto an arm of the dock indistinguishable from any other, the boats which surrounded it equally as blurred by the thick rainfall. Her legs immediately threatened to turn to jelly as the pathway they walked grew slimmer, even if there was still several more body lengths of width remaining. The wind had such an intense force that even the generous distance felt too small. Moored ships on either side of them bounced up and down restlessly, and constantly gave off a horrible feeling that one might ram into the dock or fall over and sweep at them with a mast. Half the danger they were going to face was probably just getting to the boat in the first place. 

And yet, the dread did not fade away as they finally arrived at their destination. Compared to the rest of the vessels within eyesight, the Viridian was as average as it was inconspicuous. There was little the galleon possessed that the other mid-class ships surrounding it did not. Even the supposedly reinforced hull followed the template to an almost disappointing amount. This was the boat that was supposed to carry them across waves nearly as massive as the ship itself. She expected metal linings and huge bolts, and a hull thick with the bulkiness that was promised to protect them from the harsh weather. It certainly didn't do her nerves any good, to say the least. 

Just getting onboard was a horrible process in and of itself. The crewman immediately got to work, dropping their loads to the side and moving with a uniform efficiency to claim long planks from a weighted bin going along the length of the dock. They began to lay the planks side by side from the edge to the deck of the ship below No matter how still they tried to hold it, however, the bridge was as stable as a drunken earthquake. She was left to wonder why they couldn't just use a cargo net, all the while the crew continued to widen the dangerous path with more and more thick planks. It seemed as though they could barely keep it from blowing into the malicious waters below, yet seconds continued to tick by where such a thing was avoided. Gradually, the bridge would shake less and less until somehow they managed to make it hover in a perfect line several feet above the rocking deck. 

The Reuniclus of the crew was off in the wings all along. Having grounded themselves against a crate in preparation, it was their psychic concentration that kept the boards steady enough to seem almost completely safe-- at least, in a sense that it wasn't wavering as much anymore. The rest of the sailors abandoned trying to hold down the top of the bridge entirely after it was clear that the psychic type gotten their grip. Without even a flicker of fear they hoisted supplies onto their backs once more and dauntlessly shuffled one at a time across the gangplank. Aside from the smaller, more utilitarian pokemon among the crew, hardly any paid much heed to the hateful wind and managed to successfully land onto the gripped wooden deck several feet below the bridge's far edge. They really had done this kind of thing plenty of times before, she hadn't even heard a single order muttered throughout the whole process. Maybe there was some form of telepathy in use or something? 

And then it was the Society's turn to make the crossing. Jirachi and Hydreigon both had the advantage of simply pushing over the gap and ignoring the bridge outright, but the rest of them had a lot more at stake. Next was Mawile, who very slowly guided Ampharos as they crossed above the terrible fall, fearing his clumsiness most of all. He held his chin high and gathered a visage of confidence in response, yet she didn't let herself become convinced in the slightest with every inch that they gained. With one final drop they fell onto the boat-- battered and shaken, but whole. 

Panne sighed through her nose and looked down over the edge. Her gut instantly shot up into her throat, the gasp she tried to utter stolen before it could even exit her mouth. In hindsight, of course it was a bad idea to glance downward before going across. Now the earlier image of her tumbling over the edge was burned into the back of her eyelids, appearing whenever she blinked away the rain that had accumulated on her brow. No use in waiting now. She grabbed ahold of Vallion's side and huddled close, both in preparation and in an attempt to shake off the debilitating unease. A sense of courage did indeed strike through her heart upon feeling his vines wrap around her arm in silent agreement. Kadabra followed in her example and stood opposite of the Braixen. A pang of jealousy tried to infiltrate her bloodstream, but was quickly quelled by everything else that flooded her system at the time. Any help to keep Vallion safe was help enough. 

A prayer on her tongue and a bated breath in her lungs, she made the leading step forward onto the makeshift bridge. Even with a stride and a half of room, it immediately felt as though she was walking along a tightrope. And it wasn't only her, too. Vallion's vines tightened around her waist and arm, even if he was stuck in the middle. Step by delicate step they progressed. She didn't dare think of shooting another glance at the water's surface, just hearing the violence in the waves was enough to remind her. Blasts of wind came from over the sea and collided with their backs between irregular intervals, which often forced them to stop in their tracks and wait for a lull-- if such a thing could even exist in this mess. Yet the seemingly impossible distance was more mortal than she had originally anticipated in the tense ligaments of her muscles. The Braixen was almost relieved to have been able to take the terrifying plunge off the end onto the promise of a wide floor. 

The sailors, not impressed in the slightest, were already at work preparing the boat for its ill-advised departure. Though the ground undulated sickeningly far beneath her, it was still miles better than standing above another terrible fall into the wrathful ocean, and the feeling would surely subside when her seafaring experience kicked back in. Besides, the waves didn't seem to have any effect on the efficiency of the rugged crew. Endless ropes were hoisted and dragged, begrudging wheels were turned, and their many crates of tools and supplies were ushered into the newly unlocked guts of the ship. The process was almost autonomous. Without the rest of the Society ducking their heads from the winds and gawking with her, she would have felt her worthlessness compound. 

Before they could be led into the veins of the vessel, Panne caught her breath and glanced back out into the city they had nearly left behind. The low angle and heavy mist guaranteed that she could only see the tops of a few buildings at best, and the rushing air stung at her eyes relentlessly, yet she at least comprehended the density that laid just beyond her senses. They were betting on a whole lot going right just to get the Spiritomb away from this little clump of civilization. Their measures were far more severe than the situation, and the price of failure was set too high. If it didn't chase them-- if the Spiritomb refused to take the bait-- what could Floatzel even do? There'd be nothing left to draw it out and no way to predict its intentions. Nothing. 

And if they survived this whole endeavor and failed anyway, Val would take it the worst. "Come and get us, you raggedy bastard," Panne mouthed in the vague direction, her breath ripped away by the storm. The wind would carry it to where it needed to go, that she was sure of. "You'll never steal him from me again." 

The dark shelter of the ship, though disorienting, was a gift from heaven as far as her nerves were concerned. While Ampharos, Hydreigon, and Kadabra assisted in preparing the upper deck by direct command, the rest of the Society were herded down into the cold black to help in other ways. She wasn't even given a moment of respite before Panne was tasked with feeling her way around the dusty under-holds and granting flame to sparsely-placed lanterns along the walls. Before anyone could work, there had to be light by which to see. Clefable quickly showed her one such fixture in the dull glow that filtered in from the outside: a curious quartered-dome made of glass with a reflective rust-colored sheet for backing. Inside there was a single candle with a blackened wick, which likely had barely enough airflow to breath with the few tiny holes in the glass. The captain demonstrated how to dismantle the dome and get at the candle within. 

"It burns low, but for so long that nobody minds havin' to squint. That's what the housing back there is for. Without it, these lights ain't worth a damn in the slightest." Clefable took a step back and motioned the Braixen towards the dead candle. After a limp shake of her hand to flick away some of the wetness, she reached up above her head and put the wick between two of her fingers. Flicking out a worthy spark was more difficult than she had originally thought, and the dim glimmer which resulted was so lackluster that she nearly concluded that the candle was a lost cause. And yet, the total darkness did retreat a few inches from where it once was. There was a flame being held after all. With the dome placed back onto the fixture, the reflective backing punctuated that slight visibility just enough for her to see a few feet farther. 

"There! 'S not so tough, is it?" the captain mused before pointed her into the abyss of a corridor. "Light the rest while everyone gets ready. Mind the waves, too. Don't get tossed around too much." 

And so Panne got to work, dripping a trail behind her as she went. She eyed high up on the walls for the glistening domes-- or at least, they were high up for her. With little more too see by than an artificial flame at the tip of her finger, the Braixen wandered. Vallion, with the privilege of not having a task to complete at all, followed at a distance and watched her half-heartedly. He seemed to dislike the dark even more than she did, always hanging back in the places she had illuminated until the next lamp was lit. It wasn't as if there was anything particularly malevolent stalking these rooms. If the Spiritomb was really here, she'd probably feel something other than just stomach sick. 

With every lifted dome came another tiny flame barely large enough to sway in the intense motion of the boat. One by one the ship started to liven up, her overly-modest lights coming together to form a somber shade all throughout. Even so, she frequently needed to take breaks and rely on the bare wooden walls for support. The Servine waited beside her wordlessly each time, the skin beneath his scales pale and sickly. At least he wasn't trying to stray off on his own while all of this was happening. This was one of those times where she didn't feel guilty about wanting him to stick as close as possible. Just because the Spiritomb wasn't here now doesn't mean it might not attack at full force right before they left. Once they got to Grass, she'll still have to worry about the Hydreigon's intentions, too. After an exasperated sigh, the Braixen straightened her back and motioned to continue, Vallion not far behind. 

The layout of the ship was simple enough, with many of the doorways leading to either desolate living quarters or utility rooms that could only vaguely be compared to places like kitchens or closets. The nautical bridge itself was hardly even noteworthy aside from the wide stairs that spanned its width. It was otherwise one of the most stale galleons she had ever seen. And everything was bolted or tied down, whether it was just a trunk in the corner or a pipe that ran along the wall. There was little metal at all, only layer upon sturdy layer of dry and musty wood. The Viridian was the antithesis of frivolity, built to spite wastefulness and storms alike. She had yet to even find a luxury as harmless as something like a simple rug. In fact, the light fixtures themselves seemed to be the most imaginative things on the ship, and all in the name of efficiency and safety. 

It wasn't long before Panne managed to give the entire floor relative visibility. She finally made it full circle and came to the entrance where she had escaped the storm, then glared down into the next dark set of stairs. Like the first, the sheer darkness and dizzying motions made her see shapes and figures that weren't there, but it was nothing so alarming that her fur would fight to stand on end. The stairs themselves were more threatening than the hallucinations, each meticulous step sounding off with a long croak between pauses. Her hand grabbed onto anything it could along the way in case her legs were to fail midway. The dark behind the stairs once at the bottom was thick and expansive, its atmosphere alive with the echoing of the ship as it endured the squall outside. The hollow sounds it produced could only be explained if the room was way bigger than it should have been. A glint caught her eye, and the next series of lights had begun. 

The purpose of the chamber became progressively more clear with each candle she brought to life. Along the bottom curve of the hull were horizontal pillars of some kind, their weight elevated and supported by dense boards almost as wide as the pillars themselves. She couldn't tell exactly what they did at first, but it was pretty obvious that they were meant to jut out the side of the ship judging from how reinforced the exit holes were. As thick as the cylinders were, she knocked on the top of one and detected a hollow tinge to the sound. There was definitely something inside it was protecting. As she would discover, the chamber's center are where the ends of these pillars converged, each expanding into belts and wheels and handles that seemed like they could be operated manually. There were five of them in total-- two on either side, and one that controlled something out the back of the ship. 

Rather than looking down at all the perplexing mechanisms along the floor, Panne finally glanced up into the skeleton. It reminded her more of a Spinarak's web than the inside of a ship, every shadow on the ceiling made more intense as the light was forced to pierce a maze of wooden supports and symmetrical curves. The ribcage wasn't quite whole, however, as she could see the floors above through the slits of familiar stairs. It must have been the bridge she was looking at. Whatever these machines actually did, they apparently needed direct instruction to operate, which seemed to involve shouting through the floor until someone relayed the message. 

A shuffling upstairs tore her attention away before she could come up with any further explanation. The ache in her legs from standing on the tips of her toes to light this candle reminded her of the task at hand, and urged her to turn back around and complete it. 

"What do you think they're for?" Vallion spoke up for the first time since they left the Society, his voice barely audible above the ambience. He sounded breathy and uncertain. 

She shrugged and proceeded to stretch the pain out of her joints upon closing the fixture. "Don't know. Could have something to do with getting cargo onto the ship, or there might just be really big paddles or something outside. Or water wheels, something like that. I wasn't really trying my best to look for this kind of stuff while on the gangplank." 

"Eh, yer half right." Panne nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice, a Gurdurr appearing just out of her blind spot. The pokemon chuckled heartily and threw the crates they were carrying to the floor. "Shucks, I didn't mean no harm. Thought you heard me come down." 

As if her heart needed to skip any more beats than it already has. While the Braixen gathered her breath and composure, the Gurdurr continued on. "Anyways, all this was built to stick it out through storms alright. When the water's knockin ya around and you need to get someplace mighty bad, there's wheels on the outside that give just a bit more boost forward, and a big rudder on the back for turnin'. As long as we got juice in our arms, we'll getcha to where ya need to go." 

"That... does that really work?" Vallion muttered. 

The crewman nodded. "Sure does! Helps when ya get the wind to push along with, but sometimes you gotta be content with just not gettin dragged backwards. 'S how we're going to get outta the docks without slammin into everything, anyway." 

"Won't you need more help with that?" Panne said and crossed her arms, just to warm herself a little. She couldn't be useless this whole way. "I can't imagine it's easy to crank those things by yourself for very long, and this storm isn't a small one. Are you sure you don't have anything I could do?" 

"Nah. We might get that Hydreigon fellow to do somethin, but it's safer if ya wait in yer rooms until we leave the storm entirely. Can't have any accidents with the lightweight pokemon out in this. It's good to help out, but you look ravaged enough as it is with those bandages on ya." With that, the Gurdurr dusted themselves off and started back up the stairs into the rest of the ship, their weight audible in the complaints of the boards. Despite the constant barrage of noise, it felt especially quiet after they left. 

There weren't many lights left in the chamber, anyway, and the end couldn't have come any sooner. Once the final glass dome was settled back into its fixture, the Braixen slid down the sloped floor and rested her body along the curve. While not particularly intensive, it was still enough strenuous activity for her guts to start their revolt again, forcing her to swallow saliva just to keep the bile down. Vallion looked just as bad, the coloration drained from his face and a glazed emptiness in his eyes. He would slump down against a support beam with her and bob his head to the motion of the waves. It was only going to get worse, she thought. This was probably on the less intense side of the journey and they were already getting thrown around like dolls. Hopefully they'd at least get used to it after a while. 

When the moment of departure was nearly upon them, her and Val were instructed to find a room amidst the tight corridors and keep safe. On any other day she would have objected and insisted that she could help out in some way, but a cloud of exhaustion and doubt quickly put an end to that thought. And so, four doors down from the entrance they used and on the eastern side of the ship, she would feel the heavy iron hinges on the door click as it settled in place. A mundane, almost cell-like room surrounded them, dim from the single candle that provided the space with light. They hardly had more than an arm's length and a half of room, as the room was squeezed tight by the ship's wide outer shell. There were certainly worse places she could think of to rest. 

"There's no bed," was the first thing out of Vallion's mouth as she dropped her bag to the floor with a relieving thud. 

"'Course not," she replied after a sigh. "Most pokemon tend to sleep wherever they can get peace and quiet. When you're a renowned explorer and adventurer, you tend to get a few bonuses beyond that. You've pretty much been living pretty much this whole time. Even Serene Village is getting up there in terms of wealthiness, it's just more quiet and secluded." 

He frowned and dropped his own bag into the corner. "Is having something to sleep on really so luxurious? Even just a blanket?" 

"A bed's the definition of luxury, silly. And so's all the food we eat, and especially the clothing we own for special occasions and festivals. I mean, who else outside the city can get something like wired electricity? Or pleated dresses? It's all candles and coolers, and the best batteries you can find still need an electric type to charge them." Panne settled herself against the wall and rested on the overstuffed size of her bag, which was surprisingly comfortable in the moment for being filled with tools and hard objects. "It's really a different world out there. Serene Village and Lively City are only two shades of the same flavor, and there's a lot of palettes to choose from." 

The dejected look on his face ended with a blink before it had turned into something closer to determination. He was going to tough it out because that's what his character was supposed to do. Why would a hero be so entitled that they couldn't sleep without sheets or a bed? The Braixen didn't need to hear him say it, it was already written all over his expression. With the kinds of places they've tried to sleep in before, he couldn't have known that this was pretty far up there in terms of coziness. For one, it had a roof. 

With a lazy hand she started to remove the uncomfortable plastic protection around her tail, the wrap noisily peeling away so that her tail fur could finally expand outward again. Once free, she relinquished her makeshift pillow and moved that hand over to the clasps of her bag. The irritating ache of dampness was so constant today that she had nearly forgotten it was there at all, but the resting position she took brought it right back in full force. The Braixen quickly got to work fluffing up her heavy coat with the lone towel she was able to bring, the motion almost automatic. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with this once they escape the front that brought this terrible rain in the first place. 

A series of coughs from Vallion's throat caused her to sieze up for a moment. She stuck her head out from beneath the towel, a glint of worry in her half-covered eyes. "Are you alright? Has the Spiritomb found out we're running off yet?" 

"Huh?" He grunted the itch away as his face lit up in realization, but would come to shake his head in the following moment. "No, it's not anything like that. I think I'm just starting to get a cold from being in the rain so much. My nose is fine, it's my throat that's starting to get a little scratchy is all." 

"You're shuddering, though..." Panne tried to relax her ears, even if they were already being held down by the cloth over her head. Maybe it was a good thing they hadn't been noticed yet. Sure, they wanted to be followed eventually, but the Spiritomb could probably cause hell for them if it knew. "There's some sitrus bread in your basket, you know. You should probably have some before the cold sets in. After we're done taking off and you're able to keep something down." 

"Isn't that my favorite, though? I don't want to eat any of it if I can't even taste." 

The towel traveled from the top of her head to her torso as she resumed her fluffing. "Well that's just another reason you should have some soon, doofus. You'll taste it now, you'll get better, you'll be able to taste it later. Just hold out for a little bit longer, okay? Give it a moment and we'll be out into calmer waters in no time." 

Though a silence fell over the cabin itself, the ship was alive and well with commotion. Voices she both could and couldn't place permeated through the dense walls, accompanied by the weather as it screamed in protest and battered the ship with blows. The wooden resistance creaked and moaned from the violence of nature, as well as from everyone's hurried steps through the barren halls and across the deck above. Shouts which told individuals to get into their places echoed above all else, and was responded to in turn by frantic shuffling somewhere else. It had begun. 

Vallion audibly shivered against the opposite wall. Even with the unfolding mayhem and previous reassurance, she couldn't help but turn his way. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" 

"I'm still wet," he replied. "It's fine, I'll dry out." 

"Well no wonder you're catching a cold, then! It won't do you any good to let yourself freeze." Panne balled up her own towel and tossed it his way, regardless of whether he was just trying to cover up his own excitement or not. He seemed apprehensive at first, but soon forgot when the warmth she had infused into the towel began to spread across his scales. It was originally just so that the deeper parts of her fur would dry off sooner, but if it made Val that much more comfortable, she was more than content with letting the air do its slow work. 

There was a great lurching throughout the whole ship, one distinct from the push and pull of the waves. The Braixen tucked herself into a corner and bit her tongue while hoots and hollers bounced up through the floor. The anchor was drawn and the chains connecting them to the dock were severed. Though there was no way of knowing what was going on outside, it sure felt as though their window for escaping the city was far more narrow than she had originally thought. The jerking motions of the Viridian's freedom gnawed at her insides and flooded her veins with the cold feeling of helpless panic. Their lives were hanging in the balance of the crewman and the integrity of the ship, and there was nothing she could do to help that. It was a fate they had resigned to since the very start of the day. 

What she would have thought was a generally short and risky process felt seemingly endless. Beyond the roar of the storm was a constant stream of shouts that vibrated throughout the entire hull-- a practiced relay of information and commands. The only hiccups she could detect were when suspiciously loud bangs rattled the teeth in her head. Panne looked up to the Servine as he curled against the wall, his face wracked with terror. When she tried to crawl over to him out of instinct, the motion turned into an uncontrollable tumble instead. Somehow still, her arms managed to wrap around his torso in the chaos, and in an instant they were stuck together again. 

He did not fight back or rebel against her embrace, instead digging even deeper into her torso for the added stability. The lightning strike of pain erupting inside her chest could do nothing to dissuade her from squeezing even harder. There was no room for her heart to sing, no capacity for love while the world twisted and churned around them. She was already having a difficult enough time trying not to cry out herself in response to the resounding booms that tossed them around like a brain in a skull. How could the crew have been so nonchalant about this? They knew all this was going to happen! 

The banging that threatened the entire ship did not last forever as she thought it would, but the clunk of wooden mechanisms and horrible undulating did. There were a few rowdy calls of success that managed to rise through the storm's din, yet what she lacked was the feeling of having actually made it out of danger. Panne blew an exasperated breath to the dry air and glanced down at the Servine in her arms. His vines clung desperately to both her and his heavy bag still, but at least his expression had been toned down to overwhelmed instead of terrified. "Did it... did it work? Did we get out of the harbor?" 

"It sounds like it," she croaked, the reality of her stomach coming to the foreground. The waves never stopped burdening her, just not enough to stop her from hugging tighter around his chest and settling his head into her neck. "Now we have to actually get to Grass. And have the Spiritomb follow us all the way there. It probably knows we've left be now." She paused to gather her breath. "Don't worry about the city we lure it to next. There's a village we can dock at, probably too tiny for it to care." 

"This better have worked," Vallion muttered. Eventually he recognized the intimate position she had taken with him and began to half-heartedly trying to squirm away, only to be completely stuck in her grasp. "I think I got used to it by now. You don't... have to be so close anymore." 

"Hm? I thought you said you were cold? I'm just trying to keep you warm, too," she replied in turn, a mischievous smirk crossing her face in the middle of chaos. It had been a long time since she had to use this excuse to get close to him. In a situation like this, what use was there in resisting, anyway? They were going to be stuck in this little cabin for quite a while. 

His second attempt to escape ended prematurely, his disorientation too intense to warrant the effort. "I wasn't really THAT cold, I was just still wet from the rain." A sigh slipped past his lips, but nothing more came of his resistance. No doubt she was still fluffed up and warm from drying herself off, as it didn't seem like he was particularly offended by it. The Braixen wrapped her unfurled tail around him in a shameless show of affection, all the while she concentrated as best she could on raising the temperature of her skin to coerce him deeper. This was blatant self-indulgence, there was no arguing it anymore. Still, this constant motion would have been unbearable without a static point to concentrate on, and surely it had to be at least somewhat comfortable for him. 

"How long until we get out of the storm?" the Servine murmured, the vibrations of his voice sinking into her torso. 

"I dunno," Panne replied, the corners of her mouth stuck upward despite the uncertainty in the air. "All we really know is that it's big, so it might not be anytime soon. We could be out here for hours before the waters start to calm." 

Vallion groaned, tried once more to push against her arms, and failed twice as quickly as before. "It's awful out here. I hope we actually lured the Spiritomb away from the city. I don't know if I could handle going back through this again to come back." 

"You could always sleep through it. Or try, I guess," she offered and relinquished some of the tightness in her squeeze, just in case he needed a little more air. The fact that she could wrap around him like this at all was heavenly, even while stuck in a place like this. Especially while stuck in a place like this. 

"What? Are you serious? How am I supposed to fall asleep in this? How would someone even STAY asleep? Wouldn't you roll around the cabin the moment you relaxed your muscles?" 

The Braixen hummed. "How do you think we did it all the other times? We made a map of the world, that includes every continent and island in between. We've been over a few rough patches of sea together to say the least." A stab of guilt finally struck clean through her sternum as she pressed her tail to his. There was no doubt that she was going too far, yet he didn't fight back at all. Wouldn't he at least give a single whisper of disapproval if he didn't want to be this close? 

He merely rolled his eyes, but did not strike so much as a complaint. Did he like it? Was she being too suffocating and forward? Was he only subjecting himself to this because they used to be together? Panne focused on the burning in her guts just to silence the fresh swarm of doubts that rushed to fill her head. None of them would do any good, anyway. If this embrace was a gift, who was she to throw it away? Was there even a more fitting place to hold her Servine tight than on a ship of shouts and controlled panic in the middle of the worst storm to take place on Water in the last three years? Even if he hated her more than anything else, even if he kicked and screamed for her to leave him alone, she would have done the exact same thing every time. 

Whether he cared to be stuck in her arms or not, a quiet balance had been achieved between the two of them. The violent ocean did try as hard as it could to rock them out of their newfound harmony, but it was like their insides had finally linked back up to their heads. Fear still bubbled up into her throat every time she felt the ship crest the zenith of a horrible wave, of course, but there were worse places to be. She could have been alone, for instance-- but that was always the first thing she thought of. What if this ship wasn't promised to have pierced through storms before? What if Vallion DID hate her instead of taking up this strange neutral? Maybe he would after she confessed how much more she cared for him than anything else. In that case, she should enjoy this embrace for as long as possible. They were trying to trap themselves on a ship with a demon, after all, and there was no telling if she'd ever be able to feel his breathing against her chest again come tomorrow.


	13. Theft of the Tempest

Part 1 

 

There was nothing around her but dark. Panne felt as though her own thoughts were stifled by this absence of light, as if it took up vast amounts of brain power just to open her eyes and see nothing. The space was suffocatingly tight despite the fact that her arms could reach out and touch nothing but the stale air she waded through. Her nose picked up the doubtless scent of sediment and minerals, and if the slippery floor below was anything to go by, this seemed to be a cave of primarily clay and wet earth. Or it could have been some black voidscape that was made to disguise itself as a cave. Even so, she had yet to find a reason to panic. 

When she tried to illuminate her surroundings with a brief flick of her finger and a bated breath, nothing came. Again she tried, this time with more urgency concentrated in the palms of her hands-- and again, the same result. The attempts hadn't resulted in even the slightest bit of heat, there was no evidence that she could summon fire at all. Wherever this was, it was clear to her that there would be no flames to make it more bearable. The first few stabs of fear sunk into her chest at the fact, but it still wasn't quite enough to shake her foundation entirely. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened on an expedition, and surely it wouldn't the last. Nothing she couldn't get out of by feeling her way along the right wall... if she could even find a right wall. 

The Braixen twisted around, a silent gasp in her throat as she detected a tiny murmur over her shoulder. A moment went by with her lungs locked up and her ears poised. Panne stared uselessly into the endless black for the culprit, prepared to pick up on even the most subtle of noises. Yet there was nothing there to even pick up on, whatever it was that made the sound hid in the sheer silence. She pivoted swiftly back around when another foreign whisper materialized some twenty feet behind her. It was a different voice, something communicating with the first. Her legs didn't need a command to speed away backwards from the center of the formless conversation. Something felt so very wrong about it. How come she could tell how far away they were yet still feel like they were breathing down her neck? 

The whispers became more frequent still as she prayed for a wall to back into. While it was relieving when her hands finally did find a jagged cavernous barrier to press into, there was still seemingly less and less space to between her and the disembodied sounds. Each was unique, an endless supply of individuals came forth to mutter things she couldn't quite understand. She heard them, near and far, yet there was no echo or vibration to speak of. It was then that Panne realized what was so wrong about the commotion. Her breath and her shuffling reacted to the acoustics of the earthen chamber, yet these voices weren't actually making sound at all. They spoke directly into her ears-- into her head. There were no bodies around in the first place to make noises she could pinpoint. 

Icy fear welled up in her bloodstream and pulled at every end of her fur. Somewhere in the darkness, the crowd of ethereal entities grew so much that she could no longer track them. The volume of their conversation steadily began to rise like the beginning of an argument, and that volume in turn rattled the insides of her ears. The Braixen hurried along as her hands felt up and down for an exit, thankful that it was indeed the perimeter of the cave she was pressed into and not a misleading central pillar. The damp clay rubbed off and matted the fine fur on her hands, but never once did the wall give way to an opening. She grew more desperate by the moment to find an escape, as the voices only grew angrier in their unintelligible language. Hisses and snarls gave way to shouts of righteousness, not towards her, but towards one another. 

The mental cacophony strengthened, but the only physical vibrations came from her labored crawl along the edge of the altercation. Every last one of them shouted right into the back of her head despite how she perceived to be farther away. It was surely a psychic type's influence, but why her? Why here? The debate escalated to the point where she could feel the same anger and frustration as they did. It boiled at the bottom of her stomach, to which she clenched her fists with annoyance rather than fear. To make matters worse, she was quickly running out of room to move around. Not that Panne could see it, nor could she be certain that the presences were actually there, but more individuals still joined in the brawl of volume. Claustrophobia got a grip on her throat at the thought of so many creatures in the same place, all wasting the same limited supply of air with their petty squabbles. And this stupid wall-- was there no end to this cave? 

"Shut up!" Panne screamed as she covered the back of her ears with her muddy hands. The intensity of the voices only increased in response. She felt their cruel emotions resonate with the bones of her chest like a warmth far too hot to be comfortable. Despite the civil war that was being waged before her, all that reverberated back was the sound of her own exclamations. "Be quiet! Everyone shut up!" 

They ignored her pleas altogether, there was already too much being said in that disgusting language for anyone to hear. And there was far too many, she could hardly even twitch in a direction without the feeling that she was boxed completely in. And more still flooded into the cave to join the screams in her head. It was more than just the paranoid thought that there wasn't enough oxygen in the air, she was really being smothered by nothing. It hurt to even breath in the first place with the air so jagged from hatred and despair. 

Panne clawed at the base of the earthen wall she was pushed against, the dirtied fur on the back of her neck breathed upon by the aggravated screams of every single presence. Though her nails sunk into the clay and seemingly made a dent in the soft material, there was no hint that the mass would ever give way to an escape, and she could feel the trickle of blood in the curves of her ears. The only reason a deciding fight hadn't broken out was because there was nothing corporeal to even strike at in the first place, and that only seemed to make the entities even more restless. The Braixen continued to scrape at the ground below her, over and over and over to no avail. There was simply nowhere else to go, and she didn't have enough time left to think of anything else. She was running out of oxygen altogether. 

"Help me!" her voice cracked underneath the weight of everything else, the cry deafened to even the spacious curvature of the cave. "Let me out! I'll kill you, just let me out of here!" She dug at the wall like it was her worst enemy, yet it almost seemed like the clay reconstituted whenever she lifted away her hands at the end of a stroke. Tears or blood streamed down from her useless, bulging eyes. Her lungs hadn't gotten a real breath in over a minute now, but time was hard to discern even in such small increments. This was terrible, the person who put her in here was terrible! 

She couldn't scream anymore, there wasn't enough air left to do anything but choke. It would be clear to anyone that there was no use in digging at the clay, not that she had enough strength left to even continue the attempt. Everything inside her burned, either with fruitless exertion or a severe lack of oxygen. And all the while these pathetic voices whined and argued over surely the most idiotic things imaginable. Surely it was intentional on their part to waste every last precious drop of air in this horrible cave. She hated every last presence in this hell, each their own brand of selfish and petty and loud! Every frivolous utterance that spilled from their pathetic minds scraped across hers like knives. Why couldn't they all just shut up? Why couldn't they just leave her alone?! 

"Val," she mouthed, breathless and slumped against the cavern's edge as if she were buried beneath a thousand tons of dirt. "Help... me." It was the only thing she could think of to say. If this was the end, it's what was most natural. 

At first, there was no change. The Braixen gagged and suffocated with her body pressed firmly into the cave's grime, all the while the voices continued to endlessly bicker and feud in the back of her skull. The taste of iron and grainy dirt filled her mouth when she could no longer move her lips. Her plea rested in the bottom of her throat, even if it was impossible to actually utter it. As the scene became too complex to comprehend, she could only imagine it being the inevitable loss of consciousness that came before everything was gone. But something happened in between, a sinking feeling she couldn't associate with the end of her. She had gone this far before, it wasn't supposed to feel like this. 

While the actual brightness of the light wasn't much, the transition from sheer blackness blinded Panne outright as the world twisted and sunk around her. She gasped, and in the sudden rush of air there were a thousand different scents that she couldn't possibly identify all at once. The complete shift in scenes should have thrown her to the ground, left her senses deafened and dazed. Instead, she sat up with an overwhelming calm about her, or at least a calm in comparison to the hell she had left behind. Her breathing was steady and natural, her heart was only slightly quickened, and somehow she didn't even need to look up to realize where she had materialized. 

Revelation Mountain. Dusk had more than settled in, and there was the warmth and light of a mild campfire behind her. They had just returned from the Society, they finally finished that map of the world. Some kids went lost, they had to go looking for them on the mountain. These were the moments right before Val was stolen away by the Spiritomb, but… what the hell was she doing here? Panne twisted her head towards the fire, but there were no children behind it. There was nobody around at all. The spaces where the kids should have been were especially blurry and hard to concentrate on. She never sat in this spot while they were up here, though. It was a recent enough memory for her to glance around and be confused by her position in the clearing. If everything was so vivid-- and so real-- then why does this still feel wrong? 

The scarf around her neck burned with importance-- she didn't even realize she was still wearing it at all until now. Of course it was important, this was the same night Vallion had given it to her. He was so desperate to go through with the proposal, so frightened that something was going to happen before he could confess his idea. She felt that same urgency course through her, the weight of all that planning and negotiation mounted on her shoulders for this single moment. What if all of that was just ripped away? 

Panne whipped around, hands over the back of her ears. She could still feel the Spiritomb’s influence prod at the back of her mind and inject thoughts that weren’t her own. When she tried to stand, however, the scene forced her muscles to relax before they could even tense up. Even if the screaming had stopped, the same sensation traveled down the back of her neck. What was all this supposed to mean? Why was she in a memory, and why didn’t it seem like it was hers? Maybe the nightmare was too deep, and it had infiltrated into parts of her mind only she could know to instill a false sense of security. It wanted to hit harder. Yet it was impossible to stifle the infiltration entirely. The more she looked into the darkened forest, the harder it became hold a thought on her own. Rather, it was the setting that surrounded her that stained her consciousness with distraction. She felt the same pressure as she did at this moment of time, but another urge unfamiliar to her itched like a whisper in her ear. They were running out of time, it said. It had to be now, or else he might never be able to do it at all. As a human, it was too fitting that he use a human ritual to bind their love together forever. Both in this world and his own. 

Once more the bipolar scene shifted around and forced her eyes to cross dizzyingly. Despite her best efforts to keep sober from the influence of the dream, it welled up inside of her and played with her malleable emotions. It was the most lucid thing she had ever experienced in a dream, the sensation clearer in her mind now than it would be if she were fully awake and alert. A sickly sweet happiness invaded, and it tried hard to convince her that this was a time of great joy and merriment. Yet despite the clarity of the emotions that were pumped into her heart, the actual scene she had been placed into was fuzzy, almost like trying to peer through a murky body of water. Not quite as dark, as there were white walls and great windows to diffuse that, but it was as if a fog of mental obscurity surrounded her which made everything somehow difficult to see. The bubbly feeling all around her was horribly virulent. 

She vaguely saw rows of seats which extended much farther back into the room than she could currently comprehend. While they in themselves weren't peculiar, the silhouettes that sat within them drew much more of her crossed attention. Dark and faded yet absolutely present, these bipedal creatures were absolutely humans. It felt as though there was nothing else they could possibly be. They were all waiting for something-- for the ritual to start. The ritual of oaths of love and everlasting spirituality and togetherness. This didn’t feel like the Spiritomb’s work at all. At first, she was convinced that all this was a trick to get her to lower her guard, and the air of invitation only furthered that suspicion, but… why this? Why would it summon up a vision like this? What did this have to do with her? That was when the clarity of the scene began to decline. When she tried to peer into specifics beyond just the vague word that marked itself behind her eyelids, even the plastic joy became twisted up and confusing. Something else was with her. Cold fear pressed through her veins, yet she still couldn’t move to distance herself from it. Still, it didn’t feel like the maliciousness that held her hostage in the black cave. She felt it sigh-- or express something remarkably close. The presence observed this blurry scene with her. 

It was perfect. This was what he needed, and these were the things they were missing. A ring, a pledge, a crowd of people you love. Panne motioned to clutch her head, but couldn’t find her hands. Panne belonged with me, she belonged with me no matter where we went. Would this truly bind us together? If we died, would we both ascend to the same afterlife together despite the fact that we're from different worlds? The dream melted and obscured, and with it went the meaning behind the feelings that glowed in the hollow of her chest. This was the only way to be sure. 

"Val?" Panne spoke up, certain now that she wasn't the only one in her own head. Her voice was played back to her, but it wasn't the same cadence. In addition to the strange surge of deja vu, a twinge of affection and familiarity overcame the confusion in her chest. This was Pops' house, this was her room. There was the soft whistle of a summer breeze through her window. The dream had indeed responded to her, but it wasn't Val. She would have known if it was him, but this reply felt more like an echo of memory than anything-- a peculiar reversal of love and perspective where Vallion was her and she was herself. If this were truly him, she could reach out with her hands and touch his face. If only she could will the dream into doing just that. 

The purgatory did not last forever. In the total depth of her ears she began to hear it again: the rioting voices of the nightmare she had left behind. Panne shouted in fear and tried to rush for the doorway, yet the setting had stolen her ability to move. A looming evil approached, always hidden from sight like breath on the back of her neck. The feeling of relative comfort was ripped away. She didn't want to go back to that place, she wanted to stay here! In the corners of her skull ached as the uneasy black stretched out over what seemed like her home. The air fled from her lungs once more, ending her scream prematurely as a terrible being wrapped its malicious tendrils over her mind. 

Everything cut out. The arguing souls, the overwhelming evil, the feelings of imminent horror. Panne opened her eyes to a dim wooden cabin, her nose filled with dust and warm humidity. Her stiff neck loosened with a sharp exhalation as she waited to catch back up with the rest of the world. There was the weight in her arms and against her torso-- Vallion hadn't squirmed away in the night after she had fallen asleep. His breathing was so steady and deliberate, the complete opposite to her ragged gasping as the nightmare continued to fade. Then she noticed the total quiet, and how much more gently the ship rocked back and forth upon the waves. There was no terrible roaring wind outside nor treacherous ocean beneath them. And finally, the Braixen fell into a powerful coughing fit in response to the sudden overwhelming itch in her throat, coupled with the intense burn in her sinuses. 

She could do nothing to quell the bodily reaction, and felt the inevitable stirring of the Servine on top of her. Vallion's once peaceful breathing grew erratic, and he began to mumble. "Hmm? Panne, are you okay?" 

Her apology was delayed still by the emptiness of her lungs at the end of the fit. After a lengthy pause and a few gags to follow, she finally managed to speak up. "S-sorry, sorry! I didn't mean, I didn't mean to wake you up." Just getting those words out of her system left her winded once more and required yet another brief silence. She squeezed him a little tighter once her composure was in an acceptable place, but her head started to fill with speculation. "I think the Spiritomb knows we're out here." 

"Does it really?" his voice rose and grew more clear at the news. "Did you have a nightmare about it?" 

She hummed in affirmation and allowed him to slither out of her embrace. While it warmed her heart that he had stayed in her arms for so long, the sickening influence of their pursuer and the uncertainty of her dream continued to take the forefront of her worries. There were too many questions to ask and nobody to ask them to. At least, nobody to ask who was here while the iron was hot. "I don't think it's here right now," she continued. "I mean, I can't be certain, but I think it's at least started to follow us." 

"Oh." Vallion sidled up against the opposite wall and fought down a yawn. "I didn't have any dreams at all, though. Are you sure it's coming right now? What if it was just a normal nightmare made up from stress?" 

The Braixen shook her head. This was no average dream, and it was the second time the Spiritomb had only targeted her. Panne's brow furrowed as she tried to piece together what was making it behave in such a way, yet the perplexity of the nightmare's events stole her concentration almost immediately. Certainly her soul wouldn't be worth more than his, right? There really wasn't any reason for her to be a more valuable target. Even now, the memory of the dream began to blur far more easily than the other ones it had crafted to torment her-- though most of it really didn't seem intentional on the demon's part. What the hell was all that? 

It was too cramped in this cabin, and far too stuffy to concentrate. She needed fresh, painfully cold air in addition to the silence, which was something she could probably find now that the storm had passed. The upper deck was surely clear of danger now. Panne slowly pushed to a stand with a tired grunt, her groggy mind moved at the twice the speed it was supposed to be this early in the morning. "I really need a breath of air. You coming?" 

A moment passed before he shook his head. She looked forward and blinked away a little bit more of the heaviness from her eyelids. "Alright. I won't be long. Just call my name as loud as you can if you need me, okay?" The sturdy door swung open with a bit of effort, the hinges in desperate need of some oil. 

"Wait," the Servine called out while she was halfway out the door. Panne twisted around and held an arm to her chest, head tilted to the side and ears tilted attentively forward. Vallion glanced over to the wall, then right back. That was the face he made when he had something to say but didn't know how to say it. Surely enough, he eventually mustered the courage to speak. "Listen. I- I wanted to say this earlier, but there was never any time to. Thanks for... for helping me get this far, with the boat and all. I don't know what I would have done if you and the Society weren't all there. I- don't think I'm really the hero I'm supposed to be. I want to be more like you, or, maybe like how I used to be. So.. thanks." 

His expression was pristine, more than she knew how to respond to. In the end, she would simply nod and give him the graces of her smile, but it was simply much more than she would process at the moment. He seemed to realize that too, and turned away as if to bid her an excuse to leave. Once the door was actually shut, however, the exertion in her cheeks was instantly dropped for the slight gape of her lips. The quiet of the hall humored her to finally take a breath and break its serenity. He ended up being the one who spoke up first. With a shake of her head, she started down the empty corridor, the tapping of her feet the only sound that dared challenge the ocean. 

It was as if the ship had been abandoned overnight. Panne couldn't even hear snoring without mistaking them for the creaks of her own footsteps on the floorboards. Even if the place was wracked with a somber loneliness, it was admittedly much easier to traverse through the narrow halls without being tossed to and fro on the backs of hateful waves. Still, the contrast from the otherwise boisterous crewmen did well to unnerve her on top of everything that happened in the past few moments. She would have liked peace and quiet to unravel the meaning of the Spiritomb's misstep, but not quite this much of either. 

Panne tucked her head low and climbed up into the cold oceanic air of the deck, where something strange filled the air. Somewhere upon the surface came a bright yellow light that glistened across the entire top of the ship. The wetness that remained from when they were still inside the storm sparkled from the glow even more than the stars above did. It came from the elevated deck above her, yet beyond the edge just enough that she couldn't quite see what it was. With quiet steps she made her way over to the stairs, expecting to see something supernatural and dangerous. Ampharos' tail had illuminated far across the length of the ship, and hurt her eyes somewhat to see after having existed in the low light for so long. 

For a brief second she hesitated while she stared up at the electric type, but would come to shake her head after some time and retreat from the stairs altogether. The chilling night wind whipped at her newly-dried fur and the skin beneath, and was nowhere near as aggressive as it once was several hours prior. If anything, the cold helped her thoughts along a little bit better. She slowly made her way over the the side of the ship, the pads of her feet wet from the puddles that remained in the nooks of the gripped surface. A sigh fell from her mouth, which quickly transitioned into a cough. There was no hope in trying to stay quiet now. 

The light that spread across the whole deck began to move, just as she thought it would. Oh well. "Hey. What are you doing up here so early?" Ampharos said to her, his voice hardly noticeable above the sound of the waves. 

She bit the bottom of her lip and glanced towards him. "I just needed some air, I guess. It got too stuffy in our room." And there was a lot on her mind. It hurt her throat to speak up, so she allowed the rest of her words to fall back down and her thoughts to trail off after them. 

"Yes, yes. I imagine it would be with how wet your fur was when you left the rain. It's good to get a fresh breath every once and awhile, keeps your lungs healthy." The electric type made his way across the shadow-ridden deck, the only other living soul she had seen out and about across the entirety of the ship. He would come to a stop a short distance away and glance out in the same direction she blankly stared. An awkward pause ended when he cast a tired smile towards her. There were bags under his eyes. "It's a lovely morning out here. Or- it's going to be a lovely morning, I should say. How's Vallion been faring now that we've left those awful waters?" 

"He's fine. A little sick from the rain, but that's all," her response was automatic, as the white blurry vision from her dream filled up most of her available concentration, as little as that was. Most of what could be remembered was just the word, but she was certain that there was something else about it. Hydreigon said that the Spiritomb stole all of Vallion's memories, right? Not just got rid of, but has possession of? It probably didn't really have the capacity to outright destroy any of it. Was that was she found in there? "Oh. The Spiritomb's probably coming, by the way. It gave me a pretty big nightmare, so it at least knows we're out here." 

Ampharos gave a clearing grunt of his throat. "Good! Er, good? We know that the plan has succeeded, at least. I hope that the dreams weren't too severe?" 

She shook her head. "No, not too bad. Mostly just interesting." 

"Oh? Some would say that dreams are the keyhole to fate itself, and that we can merely peer through the door every night when we sleep. Though I'm not sure if these nightmares would really fit into that saying if they were crafted by the Spiritomb first. What about them was interesting?" 

It wasn't the nightmare itself that was so unique, she silently thought. It was when she seemed to break out of its control entirely and delve into some weird vision. The black cavern was still fresh on her mind-- she could still hear the syllables of the voices make scratches in the deep of her ears-- but everything else stood at an unsure half-still. She remembered the figures of humans and the warm oath, and she remembered the fact that she was on Revelation Mountain at one point, but there were holes everywhere. If she had experienced Vallion's stolen memories, those blanks had to be spots where his old thoughts took over. It couldn't have been him in there. How did he get ahold of a purely human memory, anyway? She didn't really question it at the time he gave her this scarf, but the question stuck out a lot more now that she had seen what gave him the idea. How did she even break out in the first place? 

"Panne." With a gasp the Braixen flinched, unaware of how long he had been trying to get her attention. Ampharos simply gave a chuckle and looked back down at the waves that sparkled back in response to his tail. "Most people get done peering through that keyhole when they've woken up, you know. How gripping it must have been if you're still so wrapped in its mystery even out here." 

"Ah- Sorry. There's a lot from it I'm still trying to process. And... it's among other things." Maybe it had something to do with her psychic abilities? But against a dark type, she shouldn't have been able to do anything as impressive as wrestle control of her own dream and twist it backwards. She wasn't even supposed to have powers like that in the first place. Most Delphox couldn't even do that, and she was still a Braixen after all. There was little chance that it was the Spiritomb's intention, because it certainly hadn't expressed such a weak grip on the nightmares it's created in the past. "What are you doing out here all alone? Why's your tail lit up?" 

He hummed, barely suppressing a yawn. "The crew needed light so that they could work through the storm when night fell. I was the only one who could provide it, so they conscripted me to light the deck. And I'm not alone." The electric type pointed up, farther than her eyes could quite register. It was then she realized that there was someone up the main mast of the ship, where they sat along a wooden platform and stared out into the night. Still, they were too obscured by the dark for her to tell who it exactly was, only that there was someone there at all. "Soon the sun will come up, though, and we'll go to bed with the rest of the sailors. You'll all have to take part in manning the ship while everyone else sleeps. Or eats, or rests, or whatever else they’re going to do. I'm very much looking forward to passing out, actually." 

The quiet wind swirled around her head as it whispered secrets into her ear. Her nose had cleared enough that she could taste the salt on the air. She realized that her hands had been playing with Val's scarf, but she wasn't sure how long ago it was that they started. How much time did he actually spend in study of that one vision? To think that his epiphanies and secretive work were all for naught in the final product made her heart flutter with unease. In fact, she didn't really consider a future where they failed to get Vallion's memories back until now. Along with everything else precious to her, the meaning of these scarves would disappear to a place they could never get it back. This murderous amalgamation of demons that tormented them every night would be the only one left who knew. 

 

Part 2 

 

The taste of red gummi still lingered between her teeth as the Braixen pressed on through the corridor. The crew had just called her to the deck along with the rest of the Society.. Vallion's own restless footsteps followed closely behind hers up until they finally came to the trapdoor. Sunlight flooded in from above, almost making the interior of the ship seem pleasant for once. Panne stepped into the blinding wall of light and was overwhelmed as she emerged into the sheer white and blue. Her eyes took a long moment to make the adjustment from the timeless underbelly of the Viridian to the relentless high noon, which didn't hesitate to bear down on her with warmth. The dampness from before had almost completely evaporated away from the deck, only a slight discoloration remained to tell that it had even been wet at all. In the vast sky, the puffy clouds that did surround them were extremely sparse and hardly threatened them in the slightest. She took in a breath of the wonderful air and suppressed a smile. 

There ended up being more faces around the deck than she had originally anticipated. A great deal of the Society could be seen stretching their legs and wings amongst the galleon's upper workings. Jirachi waved at her over the distance, and she waved back in turn. It shouldn't have been so surprising, what else was there to do in their rooms? While the original crew slept they were to make sure that the Viridian's course was clear and that the ropes were taut. The great ordeal that went on through the night had ended, and what remained was the task of reading off instruments and making slight degrees of adjustments just to minimize the time they spend out at sea. With the exception of Ampharos, the responsibility of the ship had fallen to them. She was grateful to not be in charge of anything too important around here, at least. 

Comfey was the last of the sailors to stay up through the day, and served as acting captain in that they summoned everyone up here to order around. Panne guessed that there was some arrangement made where the fairy slept at the same time as the Society so that there would always be a crew presence on deck. She didn't know why this pokemon in particular was meant to stand in for Clefable, but it wasn't something particularly prevalent on her mind upon approach. 

"Good. There's none left resting, no time for rest," the Comfey said half-turned towards her and Vallion, their wreath whipped by the wind as they somehow stayed stationary in the air. It seemed as though they were the only one who didn't have an accent, but the way they spoke was deathly serious anyway. "Braixen. You go up into the nest and look for disturbances on the water. Landmass, pirates, wayward storms, groups of water types slinking around beneath the surface-- anything. Use those explorer eyes and stay alert." 

Panne nodded, but something still seemed off about the way they said it. "Am I supposed to be looking out for anything specific? These waters aren't usually all that hostile if we're around where I think we are." 

"Probably. But not now, probably not now. Kyogre feels angry." With that, the Comfey stared right past her to get a good look at the Servine behind her. "You. You're good at using your vines and holding things together, right? You can hold things steady so that they don't go flying off and ruin the entire position of a sail? Vines are useful, see to it that nothing with weight on the end of it gets to freely move while any adjustments are made." 

Whatever they meant with their cryptic message, the fairy didn't stick around to elaborate. Ushered forward, the Braixen glanced up the high central mast and immediately grimaced from the sheer height she had to climb. It occurred to her that she was the one who had been assigned this job and not someone like Jirachi, or Hydreigon, or pretty much anyone who could actually fly. Why would she balance herself high up above the deck for hours on end when another could just float down if their balance slipped? It wasn't something she bothered to question for too long, anyway. The answer was as simple as not allowing herself to fall in the first place. 

The rope ladder up to the platform itself was hardly the safest thing about the ship, but as Panne pulled on it, there was nothing notably dangerous about it. Resigned to her fate with teeth clenched, she began her ascent with a wary leap of her dominant foot onto the bottom rung. The ladder swung and shook threateningly with the new weighty presence at its bottom. She braced herself to halt in place at any instant should one of her wounds start to act up from the effort, meticulous and slow. It took quite a while for her to really start to feel the altitudes she achieved, mostly in the vertigo that pulled on her tail and the velocity of the salt-tinged winds. Finally, she could reach up and touch the flat wooden platform nearest to the top of the mast. It a way, it felt liberating to be so much closer to the sky after having been grounded in her own head for so long. 

Until she looked back down, at least. The entirety of the Viridian had shrunken to half its size beneath her, and the only other things nearby to grab should she fall were uneven grids of rope she wasn't even certain were secure. When the Braixen scrambled the final few feet up and clutched the mast itself for support, it felt as though the whole thing swayed back and forth independently of the ship below. Panne made sure that she was still well-entwined with the net ladder before attempting to take a seat on the lookout, which was nothing more than a circular platform nailed to the central spire of the ship. While it wasn't the most precarious position she's ever been in, it certainly wasn't too far from being up there for places she's willingly went. A great deal of the horizon had been revealed that was impossible to see before, admittedly. What was once an expanse of water became a plane, and its surface was much easier to peer through now that there was less area obstructed by the reflection of the sun. In turn, however, the rays bore down on her even harder than before. 

After a while, she did eventually manage to find a comfortable position. Enough to be content-- sat along the inner edge of the platform with her legs still tangled intentionally in the ropes. But once the initial shock of verticality faded, it became painfully apparent that this task was one of the most numbing on the entire ship. Whether Kyogre was upset at something or not, these waters were the same ones she had been across hundreds of times. The strip of ocean between the Water and Air continents was not known to be anything other than stormy, and they had already pierced through the highest concentration of weather back when they left port. There would be too much empty time to think up here, and not much else to placate it besides miles of friendly blue. The worst thing she'd probably have to deal with was the glare from above. 

Soon Panne could look straight down and feel nothing more than a slight twitch of her stomach and a tightened grip on the surrounding supports. She watched everyone scurry about below her to ensure that the winds carried them in the right direction, which it apparently hadn't been judging from the commotion beside some of the wheels that controlled spools of rope. Her eyes caught on Vallion, who assisted in the motion of one such wheel while Kadabra tried to rotate the whole thing with just her telekinesis. A minor sail at the far front of the ship began to twist and shift from the effort, but there all manners of knots and ropes that seemed to be affected. Whatever the error was, it had been corrected before the Braixen was even aware of a problem in the first place. 

From a shelved opening nearer to the front of the deck came another flurry of information she couldn't quite understand from this distance. Mawile stayed down in the bridge and translated relevant readings from the nautical instruments down there, but now without the close scrutiny of Comfey. The fairy who stood in as captain while Clefable stayed below was relentless in their drilling and demands. Those that did not know how this ship functioned quickly learned-- all except her.. The dynamic was already in place, and it felt painfully obvious that she was not involved with any of it. The first feelings of loneliness struck as she looked back up the the sky and made another sweep around. 

Time passed slowly beneath the heavy glare of the sun. There was little enough to see that she couldn't help but allow her mind to idly roam, and roam it did. She thought about the peculiar dream that she now barely held onto the details of, and about the thing Val confessed this morning while she had tried so hard to retain those details. There was time to think about the trustworthiness of the Hydreigon and the knowledge they imparted, about how willing Vallion was to be in her arms last night-- even the storm they had left behind and how everyone else fared against it. She hadn't even told the Servine how much he mattered above all else, and that the heroism he imagined her having was an outright misunderstanding. Panne pointed her ears forward for shade as she stared into the distance and waited for something to appear, but the position made the muscles on the sides and back of her head feel sore. A yawn crawled up her throat. Still nothing but harmless fluffy clouds and shades of blue for as far as she could see, but her skull was filled with activity. 

Panne's ears flicked as a break in the wind signaled a Pokemon's approach. She glanced sideways, tensing her nerves for a potential threat, but it was only Hydreigon's large body moving through the air as they flew up to her post. They hailed her with a wave of one of their side heads. "See anything up there in particular? The air tastes kind of funny and I'm not entirely sure what it is." 

"Nope," she shouted back and reclined once more, not bothering to hold the glance. 

Hydreigon came to her level and grumbled at the base of the platform. "Huh. Neither of the psychic types could parse too far into the future for any trouble, and what they found wasn't much different from the way things are now... Ah, it's probably just my imagination. What are you doing up here instead of someone who can take flight? Wouldn't it be easier to have a pokemon that can scale these heights in a short instant stationed here instead of a purely terrestrial one?" 

"I'm already up here, so I'm not going to be the one to complain about where I’m assigned. I can keep watch just as well as anyone else, you know." She glanced over the horizon's pinpoint line and rolled her tongue. Still nothing all the way around. At this point she'd actually be pretty relieved to see some another ship on the blue, even if there’s always the possibility that they might be pirates. "What do you mean the air tastes funny? Comfey said the same kind of thing when I was originally sent up here, though it was in a little more cryptic kind of way. Is something bad about to happen or what?" 

The dragon shrugged. "That's what I came up here to ask you, really. Maybe the air just happens to taste funny, though if only I can sense it then it might be worse than it seems. Oh!" Hydreigon shot up to level themselves with her once more, their eyes suddenly aflame. "Floatzel called earlier this morning, that's what I was supposed to tell you! He said there haven't been any reported deaths since we left, and apparently the wind has gotten better there. I'm fairly convinced that the Spiritomb was worsening the weather with its power, though there's little chance that it developed that entire storm by itself. Coincidences happen, sometimes unfortunately." 

"Hm. Yeah, then it really is chasing us, then." It was good news, at least. And it furthered the confirmation that their plan had more or less succeeded, though the actual merit of that success was still up in the air. The Braixen waited a moment longer, but their flapping didn’t cease or grow distant. Didn’t they still have duties down there or something? She finally looked back at the dragon. “What?” 

They tilted their head. “Hm? I’m trying to tell how quickly the wind is moving, and if it’s something we should be worried about.” 

“That’s something you have to do up here? We’re the middle of the ocean, there’s a million different weird smells out here.” Still she waited for them to take off, but something made the Hydreigon hesitate. It was already difficult enough to concentrate with the sun in her eyes, she didn’t need them looming over her at the same time. 

“Yes, and I am familiar with a great many of those scents. This is not one of them, and however faint it may be, we still must remain perceptive of everything. I fear that the abomination has been disturbing several natural balances since it awoke, and the repercussions might affect us in unexpected ways.” She heard their sniffing in the air, it was almost like they were intentionally there to annoy her. The Braixen ground her teeth for a moment before she sighed into the wind. "Do you think it can catch up with the ship while we're moving this fast? The Spiritomb, I mean. Can it even go over this many miles of open water at all?” 

"Hard to tell. I don't know how powerful it necessarily is, nor in what ways. It's devoured quite a bit more than I thought it would, and the victims seemed to have been specifically picked out of the rest of the population. If any of you are truly haunted then it should have no trouble crossing over the ocean, however, and I doubt that's not the case, but the question is how quickly it would be able to make such a journey. To tell you the truth, I have no idea." It took until now to notice that they had been flying forward this whole time, always at just the right speed to keep up with the ship as it cruised along with the wind. "My best estimate is that they'll reach Grass Continent at about the time we're on our way to the ritual site." 

Panne stretched her back as she turned to the empty distance and scraped up and down the blue with her eyes. "That’s fine." They hung around on the edge of the platform as if they expected her to have something else to say. After an awkward while, the dragon hummed in affirmation before they started back downward towards everyone else. 

Revelation flashed across her mind like pain and straightened her spine just as quickly. Dammit, of course she’d remember this now. "Hydreigon!" she reluctantly called out after them just before they fell out of earshot. There was simply no one else to ask. 

The dragon stopped mid-air, turned around, and compensated for the distance they had lost while they retraced their descent "Huh? What is it? Did you see something?" 

While the words waited readily in her throat, she couldn't help but hesitate to actually spit them out. The Braixen swallowed in the hopes to remove that silly obstruction from her mouth. "Do you... you know at least some stuff about human Society, right? Like, you can recognize some purely human concepts?" They seemed confounded at first, but eventually nodded with a degree of skepticism. She continued. "What about marriage? Do you know about that sort of thing?" 

"Hmmm?" They tilted their middle head. "What do you mean 'marriage'? It's certainly vocabulary that doesn't appear very often in the common tongue of pokemon, and it's definitely rooted in human language, but what do you mean by it? Do you mean marriage as a roundabout way of implying an alliance?" 

She hadn't even been aware that there were other uses for the word in the first place. "Y- yeah, sort of. I mean, the human version where they take the vows and- and there's the seats everywhere and it's all... white? It's the one that has an object two people share as a symbol of the oaths you take, but I don't really know what they are," the wind muffled her voice the same as the dream's memory was muffled as it passed through her waking mind. 

"Oh?.. Oh! Pardon me, I don't think I've heard of that usage in a very, very long time. Wow, I can hardly even remember the time I DID hear about that. It's familiar, I'll give you that, but I wouldn't be able to recall any of the finer details if you told me to." Their expression grew troubled as they looked inward for meaning. The occasional whisper of the word slipped past their lips, but the reiteration didn't seem to help them much. "Where have you come across this, then? I'm very curious now." 

"Vallion told me about it," she began. "That's why he had these Harmony Scarves made-- why he went through all the trouble of getting them. He said that a marriage is an ritual oath between two people-- humans, not pokemon-- and he said that there were matching trinkets to celebrate that oath." Panne felt herself motion to grip the scarf around her wrist as if the fur beneath had started to itch. They didn't even have the power to transform her, yet it still always felt like there was some supernatural presence to them. Maybe it was just her imagination. "That's all he was really able to tell me before the Spiritomb got to us, though. Said that he got the idea through his dreams and started trying to actually piece together what it meant. I'm not even sure how he remembered something like that from the human world, especially with such a specific subject." 

Hydreigon seemed to exhale in amazement, or an emotion close enough to that. The corners of their middle mouth raised. "Ah, I do know a little about that conundrum. It's peculiar and uncommon, but not unheard of for humans that have abandoned their original forms in the transition to experience visions of the world they left behind. Sometimes imperfect summonings can also lead to strange splicings of memory, and the hastiest, most dangerous of rituals can forgo the process entirely in exchange for doing some unfortunate harm to the fabrics of fate. Though I would think that Vallion is quite far from his humanity at this point-- so very far! For him to have visions of the human world with that much accuracy to his desire is extremely unlikely indeed." 

"I saw the vision, I think. In my dream last night," the Braixen spoke up. 

"Hm? Wait, what do you mean?" 

Her hand continued to fidget with the scarf as she inhaled. "The Spiritomb's been putting nightmares into my head while I sleep almost every night. Something weird happened in the last one, though, and I was able to... break out of its control? I dunno, it's kind of hard to remember completely, but I'm almost certain that I started having Vallion's memories play through my head. I could recognize the places I saw-- well, the place that wasn't his vision of what marriage meant. It was especially hard to concentrate in there anyway, and I woke up before anything else could happen. I think it started to realize that I wasn't in a place I was supposed to be. You said that it had absorbed his memories, not demolished them, right?" 

Their wide eyes stared straight through her. "That's astounding! You managed to reverse control and take charge of the abomination's own shattered psyche enough to delve into it?" 

"...Er, not really? It was kind of like I distracted it enough to slip between its psyche or something. There's a lot going on between all the souls in there, I think. Even if it's unbound and whole, there's gotta be a bunch of instabilities somewhere in that thing's head that made it happen. I can't imagine it's all that simple to invade someone's dreams even when you're just a single person." 

"Yes, yes. That's true." The Hydreigon nodded excitedly. "But there surely must be an incredible weakness within the abomination if you were able to turn the tides so easily. If I had to guess, it would be due to it processing Vallion's memories of you while trying to attack your mind while you sleep. It's very possible that it has started to latch onto you instead of Vallion altogether, and that you're to be its new target of obsession." 

She grimaced. “You mean it’s starting to think of me like Vallion would?” 

“It very well might be. I’m not entirely sure what it would entail, though. Whether the souls merely experience the memories or if they have lost so much independence that they might start to think themselves as Vallion. How they react to you now is extremely dependant on how different parts process that information.” To her disturbed expression, they glanced towards the sky, then back to her with a more somber face. "Pardon my excitement, it's just that it's not every day there's such a unique disaster as this. I find it extremely interesting to witness unfold." “Interesting? That’s awful! Why would that be anything BUT awful?” Hydreigon lowered their head a few inches. “Mmn, I suppose you’re right... I apologize for being so insensitive about the topic. It still may be possible that the abomination is incompatible with the memories, and thus allowed you to find an escape from its direct influence. The wrong will be righted by the end of these next few days, regardless. We only need to touch onto Grass for our success to be assured.” 

Reminded of her duty, Panne did a quick scan of the horizons, yet found that nothing had changed. Even so, it still felt as though a chill was ready to crawl down her spine at any moment. "I just hope we can get Vallion's memories back into his head. I'm not that scared of this stupid cloud, so it's better for it to focus on me rather than him. I've fought it off before while disadvantaged before, I can sure as hell fight it off again on even grounds." 

"Mm. Careful with that, there may come a time when you should be afraid. Don't take the abomination for having a one-track mind when it likely has hundreds all working on ways to ruin the both of you and assimilate your souls." The dragon gave her an emotionless smile and bowed their head before they took off back down to the ship's deck. A rather cross Comfey waited for them at the bottom, whom she could just barely see bounce up and down in frustration. Their voice was barely audible as anything other than a whisper in the wind. 

She gripped the rough, loveless tendrils of rope and sighed through her nose. Maybe it really was going to chase her now, but that didn't change anything. There was no way she was going to leave Val's side, and it surely wouldn't pass up an opportunity to steal his soul, as well. Her claims felt a little more hollow than they did when she said them, and there was a pang of fear in her chest at the thought of the Spiritomb honing in on her from now on. Panne recalled how the air quaked with horrific energy yesterday right before the demon broke through Pelipper's window to attack them-- how it sent a shock through her body, how she couldn't find the will to move until everything exploded into chaos. When was the next time she would feel that kind of instinctual revulsion? How soon from this moment? It was a worry that she would gnaw on for the rest of her time up in the sky. 

 

 

In the end, Panne was just thankful to find her feet back onto solid ground-- or as solid as it was going to get out here in the middle of the ocean. Her muscles had immediately softened up once her toes met with the ribbed deck, to the point where she nearly fell right over with the first step forward. It felt as though she had been tense not just on the way down, but the entire time she was stuck up there. Braced against the mast, the Braixen blew relief through her teeth and looked up at the sun. What was once a noon sky had slowly transitioned over to a waning evening while she wasn't looking. It wouldn't be long now before the blues turned dark and mixed with the vibrant yellows of sunset. For now, though, the air was just as bright as it's ever been, and her fur had soaked in that heat like a sponge. 

The commotion she had seen earlier with everyone adjusting course had died out hard, and all that remained when she looked around was bided time. Those who toiled hard with ropes and mechanisms before now rested against the barriers on the side of the ship and waited for a problem to arise. A quiet had fallen over the Society, one that even Comfey seemed to accept as they stared out into the distance. The wind blew right into her ears as if it wanted to fill that emptiness as best it could. The Braixen was a little unnerved by it all, the abrupt calm. This was supposed to be a harrowing pursuit to draw the demon away from civilization, yet everyone just sat around passively while the wind carried them where they needed to go. Was there truly nothing to do? 

The fairy type who commanded them finally noticed Panne had stepped down from her perch and started towards her. For a while they struggled to float with the wind and retain control, so she met them in the middle. "Good. If there's any change in the wind that might throw us off course, we will adjust the sails accordingly. You will wait until then and assist the others. Did you not see a single pokemon on the surface of the water this entire time?" 

"Not one. What's with everyone down here, anyway? Why is there nothing going on at all? I thought there would be a little more maintenance involved," Panne said while she stretched the ache out in her tendons. Her wounds caused her to wince on occasion, but otherwise weren't much more than a minor nuisance compared to what she cringed for. 

"Nah. The wind's to our backs now, a very strong wind. Makes me think that Kyogre isn't all that angry after all. Maybe they're trying to help, I think. Who knows?" With that, the Comfey turned away and started their struggle against the ship's speed once more, this time over to where Kadabra rested. 

Like the others, she would settle herself against the taffrail and wait. Her eyes, without anything else to look at, were automatically drawn to the Servine who stood far across from her. Between the opposite barrier of the boat and him was the comparatively massive form of the Hydreigon, and from the way it looked, it seemed that they were engaged in some sort of tense conversation. At least, it was something that made Vallion's back go rigid, which was impressive considering that he was mostly spine to begin with. The dragon laid parallel to the railing and allowed their heads to droop close to the floor as if they were being secretive about something, as it was all just barely below the range of hearing of her large ears with the sheer amount of white noise around. Maybe Hydreigon called him over first, or perhaps he had a question regarding something only they would know about. There was no way she'd be able to tell what they were saying from here, anyway. 

Sure enough, Kadabra passed the corner of the Braixen’s eye as the psychic type made their way to the same woven ladder Panne had climbed down none too long ago. Another strange choice, still not someone who could fly. It certainly wasn't the system that would have been used if the Society were the only ones up here, not that it really mattered for her at this point. Not when every time she tried to use her telekinesis, even for minor things, she felt herself skirt along the threshold where her power would spike and her head would be wracked with a migraine. It was getting worse still, even using the power at all was dangerous. And it's that handicap which made her twice as useless down here when it came to the actual heavy-lifting. 

She glanced back towards Vallion again, resigned to her own inactivity and more curious about what sort of topic could make him fearful enough to lock up. Paranoia struck true to her heart-- was it safe if he trusted whatever the Hydreigon was saying? There was no way to make sure they were being entirely truthful, even if they didn't seem outwardly hostile at all.. A brief flash of the Servine's wary expression told her what she already knew, mostly of his confounded and worried feelings. What kind of new information would warrant such a troubled face? Was it too nosy to barge in on the conversation and find out? 

...Fine, fine! It didn't matter what it was, she'd still feel better the less time he spent alone with Hydreigon. While he didn't seem too malleable at the moment, he's still vulnerable in how much he doesn't remember. After all, while he certainly might not remember his run-in with Alexander, there's no telling if the dragon had lied earlier to make themselves seem more innocent. Her legs would find their restlessness answered as she started towards the two pokemon, but the beating in her chest only grew quicker. 

In her approach, she caught the tail end of what Hydreigon had been saying over the omnipresent growl of the surrounding ocean. "...process if exceedingly simple if you're already prepared to go that far. Anyone who can access that kind of power can do much more, but not the impossible." 

"Hey," Panne said to announce herself as she arrived, hopeful to have cut in at the right time to be included. "I just got let down from the perch, but I guess there's nothing left to do around here. What's up?" 

Vallion glanced towards her, an uncomfortable half-stare as if his mind was somewhere else way too far away. "Umm. I don't know, It's been this quiet for about half an hour now. We've just been talking this whole time." 

"About the restorative necromantic ritual!" the Hydreigon gladly added after the Servine had paused. "-Err, yes. As I've said, it's what we'll be using to bring back Vallion's memories. There are fewer steps to completing it than you would think-- far fewer than if, say, we wished to capture the abomination and sift through its entire being for just those few golden memories. The process we'll be using sounds quite occult because it very much is in this modern age, but it's also not often you have both the subject and the remains be the same person. No doubt that makes it a pinch less.. ah.. offensive? Not that it would make much of a different either way, considering how influential and powerful this group of pokemon is." 

Panne nodded and gave a hum, yet her suspicion hadn't died down in the slightest. For all she knew, this whole ritual thing could have been a huge part of the ploy to begin with. No use in telling Val to be cautious of someone if they were right in front of them while it happened, and she still hasn't figured a way to test if the dragon was intentionally shifty without completely giving away the fact, either. "So Val, is your throat any better since this morning? You still haven't decided whether you still like the taste of sitrus berries yet." 

"Y-yeah. It's a little bit better now, I suppose. Enough that I would probably know if the Spiritomb was near or not." He rubbed the awkwardness from his face and looked back up. As if he could so easily convince her that everything was fine. Unfortunately for him, the damage had already been conspicuous for the last few minutes. "I'm not sure about the sitrus bread, though. I guess when everyone told me it was my favorite, I started having higher expectations about it than I should have. It's alright, I guess. Could be worse for something that's supposed to help me get better." 

She crossed her arms. "Well I suppose that all makes sense. In those first few days, it seemed as though the kinds of flavors you used to like got all twisted around on your tongue. Maybe sitrus berries were a part of those changes after all? Hmm, that's going to be really weird when you get your memories back. How is that even going to work, anyway?" 

When he looked away, a pause fell over the three. Hydreigon was the one who shattered the silence, their nose high in the air. "I'm serious, whatever I've been smelling in the air has been getting worse and I still can't tell what it is. Comfey keeps referencing Kyogre and how unsettled they might be, and I'm nearly to the point where I might start buying that for an answer. There really is the slightest scent of something on the wind, is there not?" 

When she pointed her own nose to the sky and pondered the breath that came in through her nostrils, something was indeed there. Yet the smell of the sea distracted her senses a great deal. Barely-- just barely-- she could detect the musty humidity of rain and misery. One part was the storm they outran, sure, but the other was much more peculiar. "I mean... kind of? It could just be the tailwind of the storm, you know. There's a lot of energy being dumped out over the edge of the Water Continent, I wouldn't be surprised if some of it followed us all the way out here. It's probably why we're getting such a good draft to ride on in the first place." 

The dragon shook their center head. "No, I don't think it's necessarily that. Sure, there's a hint of the weather present, but that can't be all there is. I sense something much more potent and negative than just that, like- Ah! Like when you're going about your day and there's the distant wafting odor of something burning downwind! Everything seems fine in your immediate vicinity, and just because there's fire doesn't mean it isn't a controlled one, but you can never quite know for certain. That's the kind of sensation I've been getting from the air lately. Not the whims of nature, but something more foreboding altogether." 

"So it's the Spiritomb?" she asked, not particularly in any need of an answer. 

"Almost certainly. At least eighty-percent so, and the other twenty are things we probably don't want to end up dealing with while the abomination is after us anyway." There was a grim look in their eyes as they ushered with the tip of their nose towards the ship's stern. "That being said, I'm not so sure of what it can actually do to anyone on this ship aside from agitate them. If the hurricane we escaped couldn't topple us or create a hole in our hull, then I doubt the entity can do much better. Without attacking outright, of course, but it's still questionable whether it's regained enough power from yesterday's encounter to do even that. And all this is still dependant on if it can catch up to us before we make it to our port, let alone can cause any real consequence." 

She cleared her throat. "It can't be too bad. There's no way it'd be able to take on this whole ship at once, even if most of the crew are physical fighters. The only thing I'd worry about is if it figured out how to break our hull. I'd like to see it try and fight me again now that I'm prepared." 

"Intense weather tends to rouse spiritual activity, there is plenty of energy in the air that they can harness and use to manifest. Expectation and invocation does the same thing with entities this powerful. Careful what you wish for," said the dragon as they set their chin on the top of the railing and sniffed at the air, and that was that. 

Vallion put a great deal of distance between himself and the Braixen as they dispersed from the conversation. Whatever bothered him before still bothered him now, there was no doubt about it, but it could have been one of far too many things. It'd be impossible for her to guess which when there's already so much that could factor into the equation. The reassuring smile she attempted to shoot him didn't seem to lessen any of the weight, either. Her hope after last night was to at least have some sort of effect on him, even just slightly. Unless she pressed on, there was simply going to be something wrong that was altogether indecipherable. 

There wouldn't be an opportunity for her to do even that, either. Soon enough, she could faintly taste the exact thing Hydreigon had been worried about this whole time. If not for the warnings, Panne most certainly wouldn't have noticed it at all. The closest thing she could compare it to was the stench of an electric type who had brought down lightning from the sky itself, but even that the definition didn't totally fit. Her stomach lurched in pain and refused to relax the longer she thought about the scent. Was this really supposed to be the Spiritomb she smelled? The cave in which it was originally imprisoned back at Revelation Mountain came to mind. It was the smell of power that had stained the air while the Unown circled above and crashed together to make horrible incantations. This wasn't even a lure anymore, it was a full-blown pursuit. 

The unease wasn't just exclusive to her and the two others. Mawile stepped out from the bridge's trapdoor and stared up into the sky with the same anticipation, surely in response to the approaching darkness. Jirachi stopped playing with a sextant and blinked at the sun, and Kadabra leaned forward on her perch with urgency. Comfey grew especially silent and still where they had once barked for regular quadruple-checks of the state of things. There were no coincidences with this kind of thing, not anymore. Something was wrong and it wouldn't be ignored no matter how hard anyone might try. She wondered if Vallion could feel this negativity sooner than the others, and if that was why he seemed to shrink away into his own head. To occupy herself, the Braixen swiped up a broom and half-heartedly brushed between the peculiar geometry of the deck, but the motion didn’t help much. 

Panne looked up, and the blue that had once ruled everything waned as the sun went along the final degrees of its arc across the sky. Yet it wasn't yellows or purples that overthrew its sovereignty, but greys and whites. The once pacifistic clouds which crawled across the horizon were stretched out into thin strands of vapor, and the winds that had been so helpful in pushing them along now forced those clouds to race ahead of them. These omens did not go unnoticed, but they still weren't the means to a panic. It wasn't as if their course had changed at all from the smooth ride it had been all day. 

This might actually be too different from the deafening fog that she had seen back at Revelation Mountain. The weather changed without reason, and aside from hallucinations and allergic feelings, it left the same hollow dread in the air. The storm was a battery, not a vehicle. It's just as Hydreigon had said. The Braixen set down her broom and meandered over to the side of the boat and leaned over the barrier to glance at the waves as they passed. With the full brightness of the sun hidden behind a curtain of haze, the ocean no longer danced with light. The Spiritomb had been gaining momentum this whole time, hadn’t it? Not just while they were on the Viridian, but since it had broken out of its keystone in the first place. There was no other explanation for it to have known as powerful a water-type move as it did back at the docks. 

"Uh, hey guys?" the faint sound of Kadabra's voice called out from the heights above. Her ears swiveled around before she could even think to listen. Everyone around looked up expectantly at the psychic type despite how distracting the ambience was, they were already poised for bad news before anything had even happened. "Check off the stern! I think something's up with the clouds!" 

Of course. There was a wave of motion that traveled up the elevated back steps and leaned over the railing, not one body was content with waiting for the answer to come to them. It was the first abnormality all day, who wouldn't race to check what was wrong? Fortune was sure to run out before long. Panne moved down the wooden barrier and stuck her head back out into the wind, desperate to know why her heart raced so quickly. She quickly saw what had rattled them all. 

A line of dark gathered at the top of the horizon, and with what little clearing there was to peer through, she could see hints of the mighty thunderhead that towered in the distant sky. The evening was blotted out more and more the further her eyes traveled up to that ominous shadow. As hard as it was to believe, there was no way to refute what her senses told her. The wetness on the air, the smell of lightning that had yet to be born, it was all there. Everything started to rush through her mind as the end of the world crawled towards them all-- unswerving, suffocating. She was back at that cliff again, the grass swayed in the increasing gale and teased at her ankles. There was nowhere to run when the black waters would rise to swallow her regardless. She felt her body heave as vertigo drilled behind her sternum, her legs backpedaled in response. The Braixen would have probably fell over the side of the ship if not for that instinct. 

"Careful! Kyogre's wrath has come, it is here!" Comfey's shouts made the world shift back into focus around her. Panne retched with her back arched against the textured wood of the deck, an overwhelming pain in the deepest reaches of her nostrils. Damn it, damn that stupid thing! She'd shove a branch down its throat and choke it to death if it had one! 

Visions of the dream danced in her peripherals as she looked straight up into the sky, tears in her eyes from the stinging itch that radiated down into her esophagus. There was a tap on her shoulder-- lightly at first, but became more noticeable with the concerned voice that accompanied it. Vallion's severe expression obscured the darkening clouds above. "Panne! Come on, get up! Please get up!" 

She obeyed his desperation and begrudgingly sat up, but the hallucination still pried at the corners of her consciousness all the while. "It's here," the Braixen croaked as she held back a cough. "The Spiritomb's here. It's here. I can't- I can't breathe." Her tongue hung out the front of her mouth. Vallion stayed close to her side while she gathered up her shattered composure, and with every passing second her head cleared up just a little bit more. Everyone who had run off to view the oncoming storm now surrounded her in palpable worry, but Hydreigon pushed to the front before all of them besides the Servine himself. 

"You will breathe. Don't let yourself pretend that it has control. If it did, you would have died a long time ago." The dragon bonked her on the forehead with the nose of their left maw. Her eyes dilated, then shot a horrible scowl towards the sky from where the evil came. Panne scrambled to her feet again and dodged around a concerned Jirachi to look back out into the distance behind the ship.The storm in the distance which she saw as a great barrier of darkness was only as fraction as dark as it originally seemed. In fact, it was hardly any more menacing than the average summer storm around here. It had twisted her senses around right before her eyes, and the only evidence it left was the mucus that clogged her nose. She could almost feel the Spiritomb sneering at her from here, the bastard. 

"I'm seriously going to put this thing in a bottle and bury it at the bottom of the Zero Isles." the Braixen growled. 

"Panne, what happened?" Kadabra's voice rang out from behind. She must have climbed down from the platform already. 

Before the Braixen could twist around and shout more obscenities about their pursuer, Comfey's voice overtook her own. "Stop! Enough standing around, we don't have any time to waste! We're going to ride along the edge of the storm for as long as we can and use the speed to skirt around! Quit talking, tighten the sails already! Give the headsail two rungs clockwise, and the topsail three!" 

Her heart didn't have the chance to slow back down. They scattered for the mighty wheels that controlled the rigging above their heads, and even Mawile chose to join in rather than jump back down into the bridge. She followed close to Vallion on this way to the most forward sail’s controls. Having observed but not been briefed in how to actually operate these things, the Braixen merely mimicked the Servine’s motions, careful around the mess of ropes yet frustrated all the same. Her hands gripped the main wheel after having toiled with some levers she didn’t understand the purpose of. Still powered by a smouldering anger, she dug her paws into the creases of the floor and gripped the handles as if she wanted to strangle them. The Servine wove his vines around the top spokes and pulled with his whole body while she pushed upward, and in response the ropes noisily protested. It was much more difficult a task than she had originally expected, which only fueled her agitation. 

The crash of thunder rolled over the ocean and shook the entire ship beneath their feet. Panne hesitated from the noise as her whole body shuddered in response to the rumbling, then froze up when the quiet fell again. It shattered her concentration, enough to let go of the wheel entirely and step backwards. After a wary glance around, the only pokemon who didn't seem affected by the thunder were Jirachi and Kadabra, who were more than occupied as they tuned the mainsail tightness using their telekinesis. She didn't see the flash, but it had to have been somewhere in the distance. Was this ship even prepared to be struck by lightning? Surely it was, otherwise it couldn't possibly have carried the title of storm-breaker for as long as it has. They had to be safe, right? Her leg suddenly caught on a loop on the rope as it compensated for a tightness in the spool, yet there was barely enough time to pull away before she was yanked up and slammed into the ground. It was a little easier to pay attention after that. 

There came many more slight adjustments to the ship that required far more effort than seemed necessary. Even with the relief of excitement on a dull day, her physique wasn't exactly the perfect match for this kind of work. It took no time at all to feel the strain, but it was a pleasant kind of pain. It was pain in defiance of the demon that had chased them all the way here and ripped her own senses out from under her. The ship's direction shifted and became angled to the strands of cloud above, their velocity increased with the wind. Hydreigon zipped around the ship as quickly as they did during the attack yesterday, in a constant rush to accomplish the more complex things that actually required a knowledgeable crew. Comfey's commands were concise and clean, and somehow the fairy's voice boomed across the entire deck like their lungs were ten times as large. Their floral wreath was tight around the pillar that marked the center of the Viridian. One half-rotation counterclockwise. She grunted against the wheel's resistance with a constant scowl on her face. It was the best she could do, and all she particularly knew how. 

"Panne, what did the Spiritomb do?" Vallion gasped between orders, his voice hushed and dire. "What did you see when it tried to possess you? Do you remember?" 

The Braixen hunched over, almost regretful to have overexerted herself just pulling at a spool of rope. Almost. "A nightmare it gave me two days ago. Don't worry about it, though, it's just messing with me now. You should be more worried about the fact that it actually took the entire typhoon and caught up to us with it. The bastard's getting too creative for its own good." The end of her sentence was punctuated by a mighty rumbling that she could feel reverberate in her chest. It could definitely hear her. 

Hydreigon's voice carried over the deck naturally. "It's no good. The clouds are still coming faster than we can glide around them. It's not going to be more than a few minutes before we get swallowed up again." 

Panne jumped in place as Comfey growled, the sound more frightening than the storm itself. "Fine! Everyone move faster, lighten the sails again! We don't want them getting ripped once the gales pick up!" 

Once more, they were forced to undo all the work they had just accomplished to ensure they would be able to move at the end of this at all. The thunder paired up well with the sounds of creaking wood and tight woven fibers, and they could finally see the explosions of white light up half the sky. Occasionally came the insignificant taps of rain that landed on the bridge of her nose and warned of a much worse downpour to come. Though her muscles were reluctant to work in these intense bursts from the lack of activity all day, she didn't have any time to care. If the Spiritomb couldn't pick a fight, it would just do the cowardly thing and torment everyone around her. The damned thing, it shouldn't know better by now. Her grunts turned to snarls as she held the spool steady long enough for Vallion to secure its new position with a latch on the opposite side. 

"Hey! Tangle on the skysail's outhaul! Work it out!" Comfey shouted from across the ship with a supernatural loudness. 

"Fifth one, got it!" Jirachi spoke out in return, golden streamers unfurled with the power of levitation. 

That was when the first of the sailors emerged from the depths of the ship. A Gumshoos, whom she hadn't paid too much attention to before, shuffled out of the darkness and took in an unenthused sigh of the cruel air that swirled around him. He looked up to the commanding fairy, a groggy rumble to his voice. "Oi, what in the blazes is going on out here? I'm in there tryin' to catch a nap and all I hear is hollerin' like the world's gonna end! " 

"That may not be too far from the truth," answered Hydreigon as they returned from the high sails above. "The storm's returned, and we will be in the same state as we were last night before long. We may need to utilize those mechanisms down in the hull to continue if we aren't going to make an attempt with our sails." 

The normal type stared at the dragon for a moment, turned to the dark clouds that gathered overhead, then pivoted around entirely so that he faced the mouth of the ship again. "Hell, can't 'ave a single voyage without this garbage! So much trouble over nothin', and we gotta all git on and deal with more..." the Gumshoos trailed off as he disappeared back into the guts of the Viridian. She heard his rambling continue on, but another resounding order from the Comfey had overlapped it and forced her to take action. Another three ticks clockwise on the farthest sail to ensure that they still had some leverage. 

Before long, more of the crew slowly siphoned out of their cabins to join the Society up on the deck. Some still had bags under their eyes, but all the others seemed to have gotten plenty of sleep in their time below. The rain had begun to fall more rapidly now, and nearly the entire sky was illuminated by distant blinding cracks rather than just portions up in the clouds. Panne sniffed the artificial foreboding in the air and spat into the sea while her lips muttered insults to the rain. One of the final pokemon to emerge was Ampharos himself, who quickly shook himself awake from a nearly comatose state when a bolt of lightning touched down less than a quarter of a mile away. The Braixen covered her ears and winced at the sound before she looked back and glared daggers at the clouds, certain that the Spiritomb was somewhere up there causing them to stir. There was a slight agitation in the deep of her sinuses. 

"Alright, alright. That's enough a' that." Clefable stood at the edge of the elevated stern and looked out over the gawking crowd of pokemon, their expression indicative of the sleep they weren't quite ready to give up. "It's a bit early, I admit, but we ain't got much of a choice anymore. Society's gotta trade off for now and head down to their cabins, I 'spose. Can't give up a favor just 'cuz we let ourselves have extra help and one of ya ends up fallin' into the sea." 

Ampharos spoke up as a yawn escaped his throat. "What's going on? Did we somehow loop around and end up in the same storm again, or is this a different one and we're all too unlucky to be out here?" 

Comfey came down from their vista high up on the mainmast. "Unrest! It followed us, Kyogre must have willed it so! Don't you taste the blackness on the air? It has come a long way on these deceptive winds, and now it is here!" The fairy thankfully only seemed to mention the storm itself and not the Spiritomb they all were escaping from in the first place. If the whole crew figured out that this was the Society's intentions in the first place, there might have been some repercussions. 

The electric type paused for a moment to sample the atmosphere before he turned back to them. "That's just lightning, I think. Not something we want to be tasting regardless, but I don't believe Kyogre is going to rise out of the ocean and smash this ship apart simply because they're a little upset. Try not to waste your strength worrying too much, we’ve already dealt with this storm before." 

"No! There is something to be believed, it is not just the lightning that cuts through the air," the fairy insisted. "I can sense death, too! There were no water types near to the surface all day. Not a single one, for miles upon miles. They must have felt it, too. This storm has claimed many lives already, and there are many more to come from those who are too stubborn to escape it." 

From the grey thick above came a curtain of rain that sunk into the once-dried wood and began to soak into her fur once more. What was supposed to be a warm summer downpour chilled her to the touch, and the sea below grew restless and bumpy compared to the calm that was present the whole day. But it didn't quite deter her like it should have, as it felt more like a challenge or invitation than anything. She had made a personal enemy out of a bunch of water vapor and wind, and it showed. "I think I'd rather stay up here and keep helping out, if you don't mind." 

Mawile stepped forward, her head tilted. "Are you serious about that, Panne? I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay out here after that hallucination. What's stopping it from happening again while you're in a precarious place up in the ropes, or while you're holding one of the wheels?" 

Before she could come up with a confident retort, the Gurdurr from yesterday stepped forward. "I dunno about any of that, but what the boss says goes, missy. There's a way to it we follow. Doesn't matter how you feel, ya still gotta switch out on time so that eveythin' keeps smooth. It's only goin' to get right nasty from now, anyways. Best to keep inside and not get drenched for no reason." 

Her ears twitched backwards with agitation, she crossed her arms from the same. "It's no big deal. We've dealt with a lot worse, and I've been soaked way too much recently to particularly mind the rain. Do you think I can't keep up with you guys or something?" Hopefully the Spiritomb would recognize her audacity and actually come try to swoop in. It would definitely have tricks up its sleeve before it did something like that, though. 

"Aw hell, I didn't mean anythin' like that," Gurdurr replied. "We just don't normally let smalls up on deck while there's a storm goin' through. If ya still wanna help out, there's the wheels on the bottom of the ship you could probably push along. Accidents happen, right? It's easier if we keep 'em away before they happen at all." 

To their words, Mawile nodded. "That seems like it would be for the best, Panne. It's best if we just stay inside for now. You're both tar-... You'd both be in danger up here, and we can't afford either of you getting into the same mess as yesterday. You don't exactly have a lot of places to go if something went wrong." 

Panne glanced over to the Servine at her side, but saw before anything the discontent on his expression. He rode the outskirts of the conversation, an outsider who stared into the window. Did the Hydreigon really tell him something so jarring, or was it the unnatural weather around them? "What's that face for, Val?" 

He blinked rapidly as if she had woke him up from a dream, then turned his gaze away. "I'm just... I'd be a little freaked out if I had to stay in the cabin alone. I don't like the way the... you know, it's nothing. Helping out around the ship is a lot more important, probably." 

"W-" the Braixen stopped herself before she could even begin to speak. The bravado that had built up in her postured chest drained away with a single exhalation. "Right. That's a good point. It would be stupid to leave you of all pokemon on this ship alone. We should get out of here before the hail starts to fall." 

"If it's too- Ah!" Panne had already grabbed ahold of his vines and pulled him towards the shelter of the inner ship. A dumb smile appeared on her face, hidden from how she held her head low to avoid the ever-increasing rain. This was the smarter choice, it was better in every single way. The Spiritomb would have wanted her to stubbornly stick out here and wait for retaliation to strike her from above. Mawile filed in behind as she entered the dim atmosphere of the Viridian. The rest of the Society were already safe inside when the Braixen paused to shake the excess water from her coat. 

 

Part 3 

 

Here they were again. The wind howled against the side of the ship closest to their bleak little room, and the incessant rocking motion of last night returned with a vengeance as they rode upon the storm's momentum. She sat across from Val for now, silent and tense. The Braixen had already swept across the ship for candles to reignite as she was told, but the ingenuity of most of the lamp fixtures held true. There was still a mutual feeling between them whenever one glanced longingly at the baskets Swirlix had prepared for them. A pang of nausea hit her hard whenever she swallowed more than just a nibble at a time, yet hunger gnawed at her insides all the while. Whether it was the sway of the waves of just the Spiritomb's presence, Panne resented it all the same. If the ocean was just a little bit calmer-- just a tiny pinch-- then she could sate this terrible craving. 

While it wasn't perfect down here, the Servine was a great deal calmer down compared to up on the deck, though a little more sullen and sad. This suffocating woodwork was at least reassuring in its promise to keep everything on the outside from getting in. Neither weather nor amorphous soul demon would be sneaking its way in anytime soon with how overzealously thick this hull was. And aside from the impossibility that was dinner, she wasn't sopping wet like last time. Just that much was enough to be thankful, even if the vague smell of salt had imbedded itself into her fur. It could always be worse. 

From above came the signature rowdy shouts of the Viridian's crew, though it was still somewhat more tame compared to yesterday. The Society themselves had worked in relative silence their entire shift aside from the sharp orders Comfey had barked out-- but then again, they didn't have anything to shout over. Panne began to miss the peace and boredom of watch duty, and the powerful sunlight that sunk right down into her core while up there on the mast. Despite all the conflicts that cycled through her head at the time, it had been a much better day than she had given credit for, and now it was gone. How could they have avoided something as outrageous as this? Hydreigon hardly even seemed to believe it themselves, at least judging from the confusion she detected on their voice earlier. The signs had been there all day, apparently, and now the exact same storm they escaped once already swirled angrily over their heads. 

A terrible crack of thunder caused Vallion to wince and hit his head on the barren wall behind him, but the wood was so thick that sounded like a blow to tree. She wasn't completely immune to the noise, either, but his expression was one that didn't make the transition into annoyance from the startled terror. This was technically his first time out on the sea, and it didn't get much stormier than this in her experience. Panne extended an elbow and leaned towards him. "Are you going to be alright? You look like you're about to faint." 

"I- I don't know," he groaned with his body pressed tightly to the corner. "I never want to get on a boat ever again, though. I'd rather learn how to fly and glide all the way back to the Water Continent than go through this again. I don't know about before, but this is way too much for me now." 

She mustered up a smile. "Oh come on. it's not this bad all the time, you know that! Usually traveling between continents is a very calm and relaxing time, even in places where pirates are more common. Once we deal with this Spiritomb and get your memories back, I'm absolutely certain that our ride home is going to be a lot sunnier and more pleasant compared to this. It's summer, why wouldn't it be? And besides-" the Braixen raised her wrist to display the Harmony Scarf wrapped tightly around it. "-you still owe me a whole lot, mister. I'm not going to let you stay on Grass forever while you learn how to fly when there's a certain something you promised to me." 

"Mm. I guess I did do that." After a quiet moment filled with nothing but the tempest outside, Vallion's body became less rigid as he slumped down the wall a bit. His face didn't get any less intense, however. A far-off rumbling stiffened his spine again is if it confirmed his suspicions. "There's a whole lot of stuff I promised before, isn't there? Now everything's all messed up. I promised I'd be brave like before, too, and look at me now. I can't even stand a little bit of thunder." 

Her heart pulled her towards him like gravity, and the Braixen found no reason to resist. As she closed in around him, arms extended and a genuine grin on her face, the Servine spoke out in protest. "Hey, hey! I'll be fine, it's fine! Do we seriously have to do this every single time I get stressed out or what?" 

"You were too proud to ask before, too," Panne said as she pushed her way between him and his corner. She propped his body up onto her chest, their bodies aligned once more. It was easy to ignore his weak dissent, for it faded away when it became apparent she wasn't about to let go anytime soon. He shouldn't have to fear anything, not with her there. 

They stayed in that position for a long while without a single word exchanged between the two of them. In the quiet, they had become a captive audience to the discordant song of the sea around them, and together they cringed at the weather’s baleful crescendos and honed in on the crew's surly conversations as they mixed together like a baritone. She could feel the mighty tears in the sky despite being blind to the huge flashes of light, and thought it fit to name the rolling explosion as the percussion. Whenever the ship itself creaked with stress from the burdens it bore, she made herself think of it like the dramatic strumming of cellos and violins. 

"Val," her whisper was barely audible above the constant stream of noises, yet with her snout right beside his head, the point was well across. "You know why I went with you on this ship on the off-chance that the Spiritomb followed us? Why I came up this stupid plan at all?" 

He leaned his head back. "Huh? What do you mean?" Panne felt his voice from the vibrations that traveled down into her torso. She grinned at the familiar sensation and hugged a little tighter. 

"I mean the reasoning that convinced me that this plan was worth doing at all. We could have probably just as easily fought the Spiritomb ourselves, I think. The storm wouldn't last forever, and we could have waited it out since most pokemon that lived in the city were already in shelters. Everyone could have gotten together to fight it, even some of the local rescue teams." Her ears pivoted backwards and brushed against the wall. "That thing you said this morning, before I left to get a breath of fresh air-- I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I'm not brave at all, silly. You were thanking me for things I didn't do, especially about me being a hero anywhere close to what I once was." 

Vallion was motionless in her embrace. "I don't understand what you mean. Didn't we go through all this trouble so that nobody else had to get hurt besides us? You're the one who went out into the rain the first time to talk to Pelipper." 

She nodded and touched her chin to the top of his head. "That's because I was scared, and I wanted to do something rash so that everything got better again. Yes, luring the danger away from the city was part of it, but that's not what motivated me. I wanted to sail away so badly because I knew how badly you wanted to stop people from getting hurt. I didn't want you to run away from me-- from everyone-- and put yourself in even worse danger just because you had the opportunity to. And above all else, even all the lives in Lively City, I wanted you to be happy again. The only reason it seems like I cared so much was because you did. That's the kind of ‘hero’ I am right now, I already shed the duty Mew gave me when I disappeared the first time." 

The Servine didn't respond. He didn't need to, she still had plenty more to get off her chest. "I'm sorry that I can't match up to a spirit of justice, but that's just how I've been thinking lately. I don't know if it makes any less of the fact that we're out here now, or if the fact that I did it all for you means I'm more or less of a person. I... I really just want to get to the time where you're ready to take your scarf back. When you're ready to let things go back to normal. It itches on my wrist a lot, and it's not really meant to be there in the first place. It's yours." 

"I can't have it yet," he snapped back after the cabin stopped rumbling from a nearby bolt of lightning. She expected him to continue, yet he remained stiff and silent. 

"Why not?" Panne asked as she tucked his tail between her legs-- an aggressive impulse that she outright ignored the possible consequences of. "You don't really seem too offended by how needy I am most of the time. And sometimes I swear you actually start trying to flirt with me, too, in that awkward kind of way. If I'm gonna be honest, it's really adorable to see you get flustered around me again. It's been a long time since Poliwrath River." 

Vallion writhed in her grasp, and with the motion came a burst of anger. "I can't take it back because it's not mine! Without my memories, I'm a different person than the Vallion you always think I am! It's only mine to wear once we get to my old human body and fix all of this. Any sooner than that is way too soon." 

"But why? You really are the same Val, nothing's changed. What makes it too soon?" 

"Lots of things have changed! Why wouldn't you wait to do this until I remembered everything? I barely even know who you are! And- and I don't know anything about the eight years we've been together for that matter! How can you even think about this stuff while the Spiritomb's still following us, anyway? This is one of the worst possible times to do it! Look at the place we're in, and there's so many stupid waves beneath us that every other second it feels like we're going to slide across the floor because of how slanted it gets! I'm just- I'm can't be the Vallion you know, alright?" 

She crooned over him. "You are. I'm going to keep telling you that you're Vallion because there's no one else you can possibly be. And you're mine, in the same way that you were mine when I was still Mew and you were still a real human. And I love you more than anything else, even if that means an orphanage might burn down somewhere on the other side of the world. I don't care as long as you're safe, because if I did start to care about everything I was supposed to, then my life would be awful. You've always made my life better, it doesn't matter whether you remember doing it or not." 

In response, he only sighed through his nose and turned his head to stare at the wall they were propped against... Had she said something wrong? No, she did everything Altaria said to. Everything that came out of her mouth was as genuine as it could possibly be, there wasn't any room to make a mistake in the first place. But why was he so adamantly against his own promise if he allowed himself to be held so closely? It just didn't make any sense to put up with that. If he really wanted to hate her, wouldn't it be most reasonable to actively try to get away? Surely the comfort of it wasn't enough to sway him after an outburst like that. It made sense for her to wait, that part she could understand, but what made him so explosive about it? 

"Hey. Quit being all mopey, we're stuck in this mess together anyway." She tucked her nose between the side of his head and the wall in the hopes that it would ward away some of the negativity she had inadvertently caused. This was no place to lose heart, especially when the demon outside could manipulate them so easily even when they were prepared for it. The Servine didn't budge an inch for her. "If you're worried about how safe we are, this boat could probably take a lightning strike right to the nose and still be fine, and there's no way I'd let the Spiritomb anywhere near you, anyway. It can't even sneak up on us." 

"...How come?" he whispered back. 

The Braixen retracted a hand from the and lifted her head from the niche of his neck. After a moment of mental preparation, she held out her palm towards the bag which had settled across the room and willed it to her. An aching pressure quickly built up in her temples, but the pack obeyed and rolled towards her as the ship angled downward. There was another pause while her claws sought out the smooth hardness she had stowed deep within. When Panne finally did find the treasure, she held it up to the light so that the murky blue insides of the orb were visible to both of them. "If it comes in here and tries something fishy, I can throw this luminous orb across the room and break it on the wall. When it shatters, it'll light up the whole ship and make sure everyone knows something's wrong. Ampharos already knows what it means, so he'll come running if there's trouble." 

A brief silence followed the end of her words, though it was redundant to call it that with how much rain and turmoil was around them. "Are you sure?" Vallion asked. 

"One-hundred percent," she whispered into his ear. "And if that doesn't work, I can just blast it away so that we can escape to help." With another plunge into her bag, she pulled a sturdy barkless branch from the bottom and twirled it around in her fingers. "Other twigs and things I can make plenty of fire with, but this is a wand that can turn combustion into explosions. When I want it to, at least. It'd be kind of dangerous to use in here, but if it's going to absorb most of the blow then I'd be glad to." 

The orb was placed firmly between the crease of their torsos and the close wall, right where it would stay perfectly put and either of them could easily grab it. She didn't actually plan on retiring for the night so soon, but there was a weight in her eyelids that she couldn't quite explain. Maybe last night wasn't so good for rest. What else was there to do, anyway? They could hardly eat, and Val was already safe in her arms. This was a perfect time to sleep as any. 

Panne prepared herself for the next horrible nightmare that would inevitably cross her mind. They were right in the Spinarak's web, there really wasn't any chance to avoid it. But as she shut her eyes and drifted off into a pleasant, warm slumber despite the chaos around her-- nothing came. There was only an emptiness where terror should have so plainly been.


	14. The Candle and the Curtain

Panne opened her eyes, and was struck with uncertainty that she was awake at all. The cabin was dark enough that the back of her eyelids seemed brighter, and the only thing to tip her off that the empty dream had ended were the waves. Her arms closed around the Servine again in the hopes that it would anchor herself to consciousness. He shuffled listlessly, but otherwise just groaned in his sleep. There was a tingling feeling at the back of her neck like they were being watched. The Braixen held her breath as she felt along the floorboards for where she had dropped her blasting wand, carefully listening for anything beyond the sound of her claws running against rough wood. 

Her fingers closed tight around the wand as soon as she recognized its shape. Slowly, as if the predator watching from the bushes would pounce at the slightest sound, Panne released the air from her lungs and raised the wand high. She summoned a flame at its very tip, just large enough that she could see around the cabin-- though even with that restraint, the light seemed far weaker than it should have been. She glanced up, and noticed that it was not her power at fault, but the black haze that strangled all the light that could have been. An intense shudder gripped her shoulders, but could not pry her eyes from the dark corners of their tiny room. A tickling emerged at the back of her throat. 

"Val!" she hissed, using the arm still in an embrace to shake life into him. "Get up. Now!" 

A grunt of dissent rose up from his chest. "Ugh, why? I just got to sleep..." He slithered out of her grasp and into an upright position. "...Why is it so dark? Did the candle go out because of the ship rocking?" 

"Look!" Panne motioned the wand right in front of his face and inhaled deep. What should have been bright enough to hurt their eyes merely revealed the inky murk that swirled around them. The Servine gasped in shock, and then all was silent. The mist didn't smell or taste like anything. It didn't burn at her eyes or stick in her throat. It was a lot like the fog that the Spiritomb created back at the base of Revelation Mountain. Which was bad, because this room is sealed off deep in the guts of a ship in the middle of the ocean. 

"What do we do?" Vallion whispered. 

Lips pursed and canines bared, Panne felt against the wall until her knuckles came into contact with a glassy sphere. She swiped up the luminous orb and held it as close to the wand's meager flame as she could. "Don't worry, I know this trick. The Spiritomb used it against me back when I was trying to rescue you the first time. The fog itself isn't going to do anything, I don't think, but if it's here at all... I'm not sure if it can stop the orb from glowing though." 

As soon as Vallion motioned to stand, a burst of cold air rushed into the room and extinguished the little light she could manage without the wand blowing up. Her muscles moved by themselves so that fear couldn't seize them, mainly by taking the first object she could think of and tossing it as hard as she could at the intruder. The luminous orb slammed into the wall like a crack of lightning, sending a hail of shards back at them. The flash was strong enough to bypass the fog entirely and blind them both. Even with how dense the mist was, a cyan glow now poured off of every flat surface in the room. Her eyes quickly dilated to the drastic change. The tiny swirls of convection hastened as if frustrated at the fact. 

For a moment, the two of them waited. Panne’s heart hammered inside her chest as adrenaline poured into her bloodstream. "Holy hell. I guess it worked," she muttered softly at first, but her voice grew rigid as her fear turned to reason. "We have to get out of here. We don't know how long the Spiritomb's been here, and I'd bet more people are in trouble right now. " 

Panne put her ear to the door and listened. The silence unnerved her. The ship was supposed to be alive with the shouts of the sailors and the howl of the wind, yet she could barely even hear the Viridian's strained croaking from the storm. Val seemed to shy away from the door, his breathing pattern growing more uneven by the second. Maybe he felt something out there that she couldn't? 

"Out," she commanded, and slipped wand-first through the widened crack. The hallway itself wasn't nearly as bright, as even the orb’s light was stifled by the thick mist.Even nearly blinded, she felt an unnerving sensation-- like eyes were bearing down on every side of her.. Vallion crept into the hall after her, his pupils dilating as they scoured through the fog. 

"I hate this," Vallion grumbled, and shut the door with the tug of a vine. 

The Braixen scoffed. "Yeah, no kidding. This is almost worse than the mountain." With one final backwards glance, she beckoned to him and started towards the front of the ship. Every wave that the Viridian crested was another moment they were forced to wait. "Hey! Everyone! Something's wrong, you need to get up!" she screamed, but her voice was muffled like she was shouting into a pillow. There was still no response. A string of profanity slipped past her lips as they crept on down the hall. 

Even with her limited vision, Panne remembered enough of her surroundings to to realize that the corridor she was walking down should have ended a good twenty feet ago. Vallion kept turning around to look behind them, muttering about faces in the smoke which she couldn’t even see. The disorientation was unbearable. Soon it became impossible to walk more than a few feet at a time without stumbling and she felt the urge to vomit.There was a burning in the back of her throat that crawled up into her sinuses at the same time. Suddenly she felt as though her feet weren't beneath her anymore, and when the Braixen scrambled up, she was no longer in the endless corridor. She was alone. 

After a precarious fit of retching, Panne took a teary-eyed glance at her surroundings, thankfully within the orb’s influence. Feeling the cramped wooden surfaces around her, she realized she had somehow ended up stuffed in one of the closets near the front of the ship. The Braixen was assaulted with a surge of claustrophobia, and her immediate response was to throw herself against the door's lock. It didn't budge, of course, and now her shoulder hurt as much as her head was dizzy. She slid to the floor and clutched her fresh bruise, while the ship continued to lurch back and forth. Was it really going to be that easy to separate her from Val? All the Spiritomb had to do was just fog the place up, toss her into a random closet, and lock the door? Where the hell was everyone? Was she really expected to deal with this monster without any help? 

Panne used the unmoving knob of the door as leverage to get on her feet once more. She glared at the lock in the blue glow, bared her teeth, and stuck the tip of the blasting wand into the keyhole. Despite how the fog absorbed sounds, it did little to dampen the resounding percussion of brass mechanisms being blown out the other side and embedding themselves into the opposite wall. The door swung freely on its hinges as she ran out into the fog once more, shouting at the top of her lungs. "Val, anyone! Wake the hell up!" 

With the thought that the hallway was meant to be endless, she took off into a full sprint to try and beat it. She soon collided face-first into someone's back and bounced backwards into the hall. Ampharos whipped around, having been forced to take a step forward to balance himself. "Panne? What's going on, are you alright?" 

The Braixen spoke as she rubbed the base of her tail from the impact. "Ah! chief, What are you... We have to find Val, right now! He's lost somewhere on the ship and this fog can control where you go!" 

"I- see... Slow yourself down, before you crash into something a little harder than me." He knelt down to pull her up, "Now where were you when you last saw him? It's not like we have a particularly large area to search." He sniffed the air. "And why do I smell smoke?" 

She held the wand close to her chest. "We were in this corridor right here! I swear we were! I just tripped a little, and suddenly woke up in an entirely different room! Aagh! He could be anywhere if that's what's going on! It could have thrown him off the edge and we'd never even know!" 

Ampharos placed a hand on her shoulder, "Easy! He’s going to be fine, let’s just wait a moment. Now, I know for sure there's nothing out of the ordinary above deck. Everything was the same until the whole thing lit up blue. I can't say how much longer the captain's going to let me wander down here, the storm's been getting worse and we've barely been able to hold it off. You say that this fog's the Spiritomb's doing?" 

"Yeah, it flips you around and confuses you and messes with your senses. I- I really have to keep looking! You need to wake the others up, I think something's happened!" She twisted around and took off back down the corridor, leaving the Ampharos to his own devices. 

She placed her ear against each door she stopped at, and after every silence she moved on to the next, shouting for the Servine in between. Where the hell was everyone? Were they wandering around, too? There was supposed to be so many people on this ship, and it felt as though it were entirely deserted! No matter which direction, or room she looked in, the only presence she could feel was the most malicious one. At the end of her wand was a slight smolder, just in case that evil chose to pounce. 

Her search eventually lead entirely to the other end of the ship, to the entryway of an empty mess hall. Its chairs were all strewn about, most of them tipped over from some of the steeper waves. The glow from the orb was beginning to fade away, but just that tiny decrease in visibility was immense in the fog. "Val! Where are you?" she yelled into the thick atmosphere. Her voice wasn’t even strong enough to echo off the corners of the room. There was nothing but clutter under the tables and in the cabinets. Panne opened up the larder, and nearly had a waterfall of supplies come down on top of her. There were still no signs of life, despite the sheer potential for it. Maybe Vallion managed to slip downstairs into the hull or something, but weren't there sailors down there? Where the hell were they? 

She had just started towards the exit when everything went dark. It was just a little flicker in the light at first, but the end effect was like blowing out a candle. Panne froze in place, not even allowing the air stuck in her throat to escape. The orb's power had run completely dry, and suddenly she could hear things that weren't there before. Little voices in the darkness, inaudible, but undoubtedly real. Beyond the point where the mist should have stifled all sound, she heard a distant creaking. Her heart raced faster and faster by the passing second. A chill crawled down her spine like electricity, a signal that something had arrived. The Braixen was forced to take a wide stance to spread her weight evenly, as a particularly strong wave crashed against the ship. With a blasting wand held at eye-height, she listened. 

The unnatural sounds continued to fester around her. They stayed at a distance, always at just the right distance. Ever second dragged on and on, each one a chance to run that she wasn’t brave enough to take. It felt as though the anticipation alone would kill her. She heard was some kind of muffled bubbling to her right. First came blank confusion, then a bolt of fear that the ship might have been sinking. None of that mattered as a wall of force crashed into her side and launched her into the corner of a table. A moment of shock from her newly-cracked ribs stunned her, and the stream of water that ripped into her stung far more than she expected. Once the pressure waned and the rest flooded the floors, Panne collapsed into the pool and tried hard to simply start breathing again. 

A static swelled in the air made her soaked fur want to stand up on end. It took the rest of her strength just to start to crawl away. The table she had slammed into crunched from some blow she had narrowly avoided. Her lungs began to cooperate once more, and with that renewing gasp came an equally as debilitating pain in her torso. The sound of sloshing was getting louder again, and the water around her ankles felt as though it had a grip of its own. Panne sacrificed her next breath and pointed her wand straight up, pouring as much heat into the wood, hoping to evaporate as much liquid as possible. In the dull orange light, she saw how violently the mists swirled around her. If there were wind currents to the motion, she'd have been knocked right back down to the floor. 

The Braixen didn't wait for another attack to come. As soon as the wand steamed off, she extended her arm towards the churning darkness and gave a ragged shout. The meager flame that danced on its end bulged, then exploded into a deafening wave of heat and force. The recoil surged into her arm, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as the blast that carved a hole into the fog. Whatever gripped at her legs let go and was washed away by a new, more harmless surge of water, probably something that was going to be aimed at her if she had waited too long. Panne took the opportunity to wade on towards escape, still coughing up a copper taste as she navigated with barely half a candle's flame. Her peripherals caught sight of the fog as it started to reform. 

She stumbled into the hall on all-fours, just trying to outrun the consequences. Only when the floor was dry enough did she stand up and enter a limping dash. Rather than just holding a fire in front of her to see, Panne tossed an entire fireball ahead of herself and ran through the short-lived inferno when it fell. She burst into the far end of the ship without warning, and was surrounded with pokemon in an instant. 

"Panne?" Ampharos muttered. 

"What in the hell is goin on?" Clefable interrupted, loud enough that the room shook. "What... Did you do... To my ship? Why the hell on this green earth did I hear explosions coming from below the deck? And you better answer me well Braixen, because the price can be far steeper than you and your little explorer buddies can afford." 

Her breath was shallow from pain and exertion, she could hardly respond at all. "Spiritomb... It's down here with us. It attacked... It attacked me. I can't- " Panne looked up from her slouch and saw a flicker of green at the corner of her eye. "Val! You're okay! You're- ngh, okay..." 

"...Why are you all wet, where did you even go? I just turned around and you weren't there anymore. There wasn't even a sound, you were just gone. I was starting to get worried." He seemed to notice how she clutched her side, and wove his way through the crowd of sailors to meet her. "Hey, are you alright? What's wrong?" 

But despite all this, the fairy type in charge huffed. "That's yer excuse, then? The big bad ghost comin' around to spook us, in the middle of the goddamn ocean? It woulda had to have already been on the ship when we left, and I know every inch 'a it. We woulda known by now if it were on here. If you blew somethin' important part I swear..." 

"Where's everyone else?" Panne asked Ampharos under her breath, the act of talking more painful than the lashings Clefable dealt. "I tried to get into their rooms, but the doors were locked and nobody was inside any of them." 

"Oi!" A breloom called out, one of the sailors in the back. "Ignore the captain one more time, and you'll be kissin' yerself goodbye out in the slosh!" 

As the Braixen twisted around, drops of water flung from her soaked fur. "I'm not ignoring him!” she grunted with shallow breaths. “There's just more important things to worry about, like the lives of all my friends on this stupid bucket! Everyone's going to die if we don't do something about it!" Shouting stole the rest of her energy and forced her back down. 

The Breloom puffed up and tried to rush for her, but was stopped by the amount of bodies in front of them as well as Clefable himself. "Simmer down, ya lout! I'm the only one that decides who knocks who out around here, and I don't remember givin' you permission!" An impatient groan fell out of his mouth. "Get back out there, the lot of ya! This little distraction's going ta' get us killed if the storm realizes we're gone. Now, you three-- you think you can get away with smashin' up my boat, eh?" 

As the crew shuffled back out into the night, a few bothered to send sneers in her direction. Panne was able to sit up fully with Vallion's help, though she still clenched her teeth at the tightness of his vines. "It doesn't really matter whether you believe it could make it here or not, the Spiritomb that was ruining Lively City is here on this ship right now. I don't know where the rest of us are. They should have woken up by now, but there's no one else out there! Please, we need to stop it before people get hurt!" 

"Hmph. I don't see any Spiritomb. Everything seems 'ta be fine around here. It's only you few that's complaining." The Clefable shrugged, his eyes accusing. 

"What are you talking about? How can you think all of the candles on the ship going out at once is normal?!" 

The fairy gave her a sideways glance, looked back down the hall, then gave a syllable of a chuckle. "Girl, something very well might be wrong with you. Every last one of the lanterns I can see from here are still lit. Honestly, what do ya think we're seein' by right now?" 

Panne turned her head to glance down the corridor she had just ran out of. It was as he said, everything had returned to the way it was before they went to bed. Every candle down the way danced in their holdings, the shadows shifting with the ship's wide, lurching angles. Even the far end was visible, completely dry of the flood that trailed her escape. But her fur was still just as soaked as it felt. The pain in her side felt very much real, as well. "Amph, You were in there. You saw it too, right? Please tell me it didn't make you up, too." 

To her relief, the chief nodded readily. "I did. There was a black mist that even a luminous orb had trouble lighting up, and all of the candles were certainly out at the time. Though I'm not entirely certain what happened to you Panne, it really does seem like you wandered out onto the deck and got soaked. Did the ghost place you up there at some point?" 

She shook her head. "The damn thing shot me with water while I was looking in the kitchen. It did that back at the city too. Hurts just as bad now as it does then. I think I really messed up some of my ribs." 

The Clefable glared down the hallway for a few moments, but began to shake his head on the glance back. "It's dry. Glowy, you really think it's fine to be coverin' so hard for this twit? I ain't seen no mist, I ain't seen no ghost, and I ain't seen no leaks. And if I see anythin's broken, you're gunna be seein' stars, got it? Now git back to bed, I don't want nobody gettin' hurt 'cuz they were all roused up in the middle of the night and didn't get any sleep." 

"You're just going to let this thing run around on your ship?" Vallion spoke up between them as the fairy motioned to walk back out into the roar of the storm. 

He turned with a grunt. "What thing? If you really want to run around lookin' for some trouble with the shadows, be my guest. 'Cept you, glowy. You're still out here on lantern duty." With a beckon the Clefable stepped out into the wind, swallowed up by the dark of night. 

Ampharos was soon to follow, but not before shooting them a nervous glance and some last advice. "Stay safe. Don't let it catch you out again. Find some of the others. Just get your numbers up, okay? It looks fine now, this might be your chance." A brilliant yellow filled the room, nearly blinding her outright. "All you have to do is hold out until the morning, or until it gets demotivated and slinks away. You'll be fine. I won’t be long, anyway." The chief flashed them a grin, as fragile as it was, and pressed up the narrow stairs. Soon, all that was left was the sullen light of the candles. 

Now that they were alone, Panne let herself slide all the way to the ground. Her shoulders quivered with pain as her back touched the hard floor a little too quickly. A tiny grunt escaped her, but that was all. She should've remembered sooner that the Spiritomb could do that. 

"Seriously, are you going to be alright? I- I think I can help you along if you want." Val craned over her, his head in the light of the candle. Despite all that was happening, a little bubble of hysteria got stuck at the top of her throat, and a smile crept onto her face that didn't at all match the ache. He just sounded so concerned. 

She ignored the popping of her bones and slowly rose to her feet, snatching up her wand and holding it in a space between her teeth. The whole way up she felt Vallion's vines touch her back, ready to help should her legs give out. The pain had subsided a tiny amount due to the adrenaline her heart kept pumping. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's okay for now," her words were mangled by the object still locked in her jaw. She dropped the dangerous instrument into her hands with as much care as she'd throw a stone. 

For now, everything was back to normal, as unnatural as that was after everything. Even the creeping feeling that always lingered behind her was gone. It was far too calm. "We really should go wake everyone up, I don't like the way this is going at all. I mean, how heavy can everyone be sleeping right now? I blew open the lock on a door and exploded part of the mess hall for crying out loud, and it's not like anyone can get any good sleep somewhere like this." 

"Mm, You think maybe they were put into dreams they couldn't get out of? That sounds like something the Spiritomb would do," the Servine mulled. 

She started towards the eastmost corridor at a fraction of the speed she normally moved. The sound of the wind grew muffled as she passed around the corner, but it was merely the angle. "Maybe. I don’t know, I just hope everyone’s still alright and they really are just asleep. It did something like that back at Revelation Mountain. R-" emember? No, of course he doesn't. He wasn't there. "Anyways, you're probably right. Let's hope that we're not actually the ones who are dreaming right now." 

They approached the first cabin door they could see. It was impossible to tell who was within, if anyone was at all. Vallion closed in around the knob first, hesitated with his vines, then finally twisted. The door swung open and revealed that there was nothing beyond it. She peeked around the corners, glanced around the ceiling, walked in and checked the door. There was basically no way she could explore the tiny room any further than she did. The Spiritomb wasn't hiding anything. "Well this one's a dud I guess. Let's head over to the next-" 

A loud slam right behind the Braixen made her jump in place, which in turn brought a resurgence of pain. They both twisted around to find that the door had closed on its own. After she grappled with the knob for a good moment, it quickly became clear that it wasn't meant to be opened again. It didn't feel as though the lock was engaged this time though, only that the door was being held shut by a force much stronger than her arms. 

"No, no! I knew this was going to happen!" Vallion shouted. He rushed in front of her and crashed into the door, causing the cabin itself to shake but certainly not the hinges. As if it would have worked, she had already learned that lesson. "I was just thinking about how we should have stayed outside the room! But- but then you walked in and I didn't say anything and I didn't want to get separated again so I just walked in after you and now we're stuck in here!" 

Panne hushed him, a great degree calmer now that he was the one who had started to panic. It would have been different if he wasn’t here. "Come on, slow down there. Easy now." She put a hand on his back and motioned him away from the door. "It's not like you're locked in here by yourself, and I've got a blast wand silly! You really think this stupid ghost's going to lock me anywhere on a wooden ship? It's already tried this on me." Once more, she stuck the tip of the wand into the lock and wiggled her way deeper into the mechanism. Right as she was giving Vallion a moment to prepare, a voice rung out from the other side. Not like the ones that whispered right before she was attacked, but someone familiar. She lowered the wand entirely, "Jirachi?" 

"Hey! Guys? Where did you go?" It had to be Jirachi's voice, there was no mistaking it now. 

"We're in here!" Vallion cried beside her. "The Spiritomb trapped us! You need to go get the others!" 

"Guys!? GUYS!" There was a chilling scream, and just like that, the numbing silence of the fog returned. 

"Jirachi!" Panne called out so close to the door that her teeth scraped against it, but there was no response. The Viridian's creaking grew violent at the same time, as if it, too, was fighting the influence of the demon. Panne slammed the side of her fist into the wall and turned the wand like it was an ill-fitting key that needed some motivation. A hollow thud sounded from within, then a secondary burst of heat hit her chest like a punch. Like the last, the door swung on its hinges sadly, but the Braixen wasted no time and kicked the thing fully open. A great draft flooded in and extinguished the cabin’s candle. 

"How many more goddamn doors is it going to take before that Clefable realizes something's wrong?" Panne snarled before she yanked the wand free and conjured a flame much more desperate than before. There wasn't much wood left on the wand itself, either. "Jirachi! Jirachi, can you hear me?!" When a muffled cry carried over the distance still, she turned to Vallion and extended her left wrist. "Grab my arm and follow me. Never let go, no matter what." 

They rushed into the hall. The intense winds continued to wail as it was being funneled through the ship, like the storm had finally broken through. She had no choice but to trudge against the current, burning far more of her wand than she would have liked just to keep the flame from going out. It was impossible to call out, her words would immediately get eaten up by the noise. 

As the ship angled backwards on the valley of a wave, a torrent crashed down from ahead and nearly washed her feet out from under her. To brace herself, she was forced to drop their light source completely and dig her claws into the wall, and from their tether she felt Vallion struggle to do the same. A thought occurred to her in the midst of the chaos and the terror that all of this was just ridiculous. The floods, the fog, even the people-- all of it felt harsh like a fever dream. This had to be the nightmare, there was no other explanation. A coughing fit broke out of her throat as the icy waters surged against her legs. All she had to do was break out into Vallion's memories again to beat the Spiritomb. 

Panne allowed herself to slip backwards at the same time as she pulled up on the vine. The Servine's body crashed into hers, and despite the overwhelming pain that gripped her torso, she grabbed on and refused to let go. For a good few seconds they slid with the current before the ship lurched back downwards. The Braixen prayed the whole way, squeezing the form of her lover in the darkness and hoping as hard as she could that it would send her through that sinking transition. But it never seemed to come. The water rose and fell erratically as it tried to enter her mouth and fill her lungs. There had to be a way out of here, she had to get out! 

There was a white flash through her eyelids-- brief, but impossible to miss in the sheer black. Jirachi's voice called out once more above the storm's din when Panne opened her eyes, and the tiny point of light that hovered in the air began to grow. An unnatural tide rose up to smother the light before it could fester any longer, but it was already too late. A horrible scraping noise gouged into her ears as Jirachi's attack drilled into the black waters. The torrent began to falter, becoming a dispersing stream at worst-- yet it was a stream that moved uphill towards the light like blood rushing to the surface of a wound. 

"Get away!" Jirachi shouted as they zoomed down the hall past them. The haze in her mind vanished-- maybe this wasn't a dream after all. Vallion rose first, nearly pulling her along with him before she realized to get up and run. Without that promise he had kept, there was no way Panne would have been able to pick up a sprint with all that was on her mind. They barreled around the corner so fast that she skidded over the top of a standing pool of water for a full second. Down the stairs and into the hull, they stumbled and tripped over each other. 

The way into the deep hull was riddled with bumps and bruises, all up until they finally stopped somewhere after the base of the stairs. There wasn't even any water down here. Her eyes darted about the darkness, as her ears honed in on the pregnant pause. The only things she could hear were gasping, the drips that rolled off her body, and the tired strain of the ship as it plowed through the Spiritomb's rage outside. Far too soaked to make a light, she decided instead to just speak up. "Is everyone okay, is everyone down here?" 

"Yeah," replied the psychic from above, out of breath and mumbling. "I guess your ghost is here now huh? I didn't think it'd be able to learn my voice so easily, I haven't even been talking all that much. Or maybe it was just listening really hard back at the Society?" 

"Wait, that wasn't you? You weren't on the other side of that door we were locked behind?" the Servine spoke towards Panne instead of the direction of Jirachi's voice, having only her arm as spatial reference. 

A dissenting hum came in response. "Nope! I never really managed to get to sleep, and when I was so close I heard my own voice coming from outside my room. When I opened it to see what was going on, all of this started to happen, And now we're down here! I hope everyone else is okay..." There was a grumble amidst them that seemed like it echoed from every corner. At the same time, her throat began to itch. "...Panne, could you make a little bit of light? All we did was run down the stairs." 

She whipped her hand through the air to throw off as much of the remaining dampness as she could. It occurred to her that the hull was completely empty. In the middle of a storm, the systems used to actually drive the ship effectively were abandoned. A spark bounded from the end of her claws, then two more, until there was finally something that could actually maintain its appearance. She took that tiny potential and began to pump more and more oxygen into it. As more of the ship's wooden skeleton was revealed, the air grew frigider, despite the fact that a fire was growing. Val became visible, his scales glistening and his expression fierce. Then Jirachi, high among the supports as if they were hiding. And finally, all of the unconscious sailors who leaned against pillars and were sloped against the sides. 

"Oh hell," the Braixen hissed through her teeth. "I really hope it's still ignoring everyone on top. I'm not sure if this ship will last much longer if nobody was there to drive it." 

"The shadows are moving on their own," Jirachi spoke up. Vallion tightened his grip around her wrist. 

A twinge of frustration tightened the Braixen’s fists. "And it's not the flame moving, right?" 

Indeed, the far corners beyond what her flame could reach seemed to flicker in her vision, like she had stared at the sun for too long. The phenomenon manifested itself in detail, as it dripped down from the boards above. Drops of water rained down as the form condensed. This time though, she could make out the faint shapes of the Spiritomb's face as it filtered in through the boards and took its most recognizable cloud-like form. It was grinning, almost like it was trying to snicker but just didn't know how to make the noise. 

And yet, everything was calm. Actually being able to see the threat seemed to help a lot. "What do you want?! I’m sick and tired of you messing with us! Why don’t you just come down here and actually try to take our souls instead of being a coward?!" 

A thousand voices mocked her all at once, "FOOL." The blackness surged towards in an instant, and only then did Panne realize that she was too tired to get out of the way. She tried to blast it away instead, but this was the Spiritomb's dense physical form. All she could manage to throw was the little fireball that had been keeping the room lit. It just bounced right off, and the very next second her lower body was completely swallowed up in what felt like frozen molasses. Vallion tried to pull her free as best he could, but the Spiritomb had already crawled up the rest of her figure and squeezed. A groan of agony would have left her throat if there was any room for it to escape. Panne was reminded of every broken bone and bruise she was already aware of, and discovered several more she was not. 

A silver flicker in the air served as the only means of sight. The Servine was finally forced to pull away from her arm, and with both vines he began to lash wildly at the mass. She was lifted up into the air as the Spiritomb reformed around her and reeled away with its hostage. A fight broke out around her, and she was unable to do anything but be tossed around worthlessly. It was impossible to breathe, much less actually burn anything. With the power she at least had for the moment, Panne looked for the first object she could manipulate with telekinesis and throw at herself. There were plenty of cargo crates to go around. It was too difficult to concentrate while her captor lunged and recoiled unpredictably. Jirachi tried hard to avoid hitting the Braixen, which would only make the task worse. A dizziness began to fill her head in place of the blood flow that couldn't keep circulating. 

Funnily enough, it was Vallion's desperate strikes which the Spiritomb shied away from the most. Even if his attacks were closer to instinctual than they were tactical, they still did enough damage that she found opportunities to gasp. With the gasps came brief chances to struggle free, chances to actually fight for herself! The Braixen yanked an arm free and stretched it towards the first crate in her field of vision. After a searing burst of pain in her temples, all she really managed to do was cause it to lurch forward and tip over before she was pulled even deeper into the viscous cold. Why, why now? She wasn't that great at it in the first place, but why the hell couldn't she use it right just this one time? 

"Let her go!" Vallion screamed from outside her prison. The mere foot of depth that separated them made it sound as if he were two miles away. The bubbles caused by his efforts danced between her fingers. If only he could dig just a little bit deeper, just enough that she could grab on. 

The gravity bearing down on her suddenly jerked her upward. Something pulled on her leg hard, and with the help of the shifting pressure, she was pulled completely free. Panne collided with one of the main pillars of the hull at the end of her sudden expulsion, but her lungs were more than willing to suck in as much as they could. The cacophony of metal scraping against itself filled the hull. Panne saw the Servine rush to her side at the height of the Doom Desire's light, then everything went black once more. The Viridian shook more from the monster's roar than even the weather that still battered it. 

She breathed in and out, in and out. She put her hands together-- in and out, slower than that. The damn cold had sapped all the feeling from her fingers, how was she supposed to know whether they were actually heating up or not? A terrible crash knocked her off-balance, and the whole ship felt as though it were about to roll over. The unconscious sailors fell past her and settled onto the curve of the side. The pillar she held onto was nearly horizontal, but fortune smiled and allowed the ship to roll upright again. Everything came crashing back down, but at least her heart started beating again. 

Panne held her arms above her head and finally brought light back to the battle. She expected the Spiritomb to have been coming down on her at that very moment, but it was actually across the hull entirely. Its amorphous body lurched to the side, and from the motion the Viridian lurched hard at another horrible angle. A vine wrapped around her waist and held her in place as the artificial wave passed under them. Mostly unaffected while in the air, Jirachi made yet another sparkling point in the air to strike at the demon. But it was weak-- far dimmer than ones in the past, and with much less enthusiasm. They ran out of steam far too soon. Panne could do nothing but watch as the Spiritomb evaporated into a mist-like form and engulfed the psychic type entirely. 

Once again, the Braixen took her meager flame and pumped it up with as much fuel as possible. But no matter how much desperation and agony she put into it, there was nothing her attacks could do but splash against the blackness and throw off a bit of steam. Vallion was prepared to charge in as soon as everything evened out. He was so stupid and brave, when just earlier had a panic attack from a door that closed behind him. Panne pushed to her feet and followed him into the fray. The Spiritomb, too absorbed in the process of becoming solid again, took whip after whip from Vallion’s vines. All the while she could barely make a crate so much as twitch, and in doing so inflicted a head-splitting migraine on herself instead. She abandoned the idea for a second time and just continued to carve into the mist with her fire. There was no telling how long Jirachi could hold out in there. 

The demon reformed completely. In retaliation, it launched the same blasts of water that felt as though they could shear centimeters off of wood. There was no way in hell she was going to let herself get hit with another one of those. Using the wheel mechanisms as cover, Panne scurried across the lower hull and traded volleys of fireballs. Vallion was a little less athletic than her, and managed to get his tail clipped by a blast. The damage it caused wasn't catastrophic, but he still crumpled to the ground, his sense of balance shattered by the blow. Since his were the only attacks that could even faze the monster, it would ignore the Braixen completely and billow towards him in its most gaseous form. 

She wasn't exactly slow, but not nearly fast enough to make it before the Spiritomb devoured him as well. Her fireballs turned to smoke as soon as they entered the cloud, so she did the only thing she could do-- charge into the smoke after him. It immediately stung at her eyes, and despite the form being relatively loose still, she was wading through what felt like icy pudding. Something brushed against her leg and tried to wrap around it-- a vine feeling around for an escape, it had to be! The pressure began to pull her deeper more quickly than she could drag him out. On top of that, Jirachi was nowhere to be found. The Braixen knelt low and put the last of the air in her lungs to good use, pushing it up into her throat as fire. It was better to boil alive than drown and be drained dry probably. 

The flames bubbled up through her teeth and washed over her face. Panne struggled and strained, all to do more than just make a little heat in the water. It became too difficult to ignore the pains that plagued her, but what was Vallion going through? The bubbles grew hotter and surrounded her whole head. She felt the Servine crawl his way to her side and meet with the same impassable resistance. There was no oxygen left to spend, but still the force of the combustion pried her jaw open inch by inch. Her claws wrapped around Val's harmony scarf in the hurricane of sensation. More fire, just a little bit more! Even if it killed her! It had to have been doing something if she could still feel! 

An explosion rippled through the Spiritomb and channeled right into her, silencing the Braixen's efforts and knocking her to the ground. Before she was forced to pull in a gasp of the noxious liquid, the ghost recoiled and lifted away. A coughing fit stole her function, the darkness stole her sight, and the exertion stole pretty much everything else. Her body flopped over onto the floorboards while she wondered if that was actually her or not. Maybe people were finally starting to wake up from their nightmares and come to help. Or maybe the sailors above realized something was wrong after the fifth or sixth loud crash that made the whole ship vibrate. All they've been able to do down here is keep themselves alive, and that already seemed to be impossibly difficult. 

When Panne tried to push herself up, there was a strange tingling that ran from the base of her neck all the way down her spine. She looked up, and the Spiritomb's glow looked down on her. Its expression was crooked and furious, far from the cruel mirth it arrived with. The explosion must have done more damage than she thought. But she was powerless now, or at least close enough. Maybe Val would've been able to think his way out of a situation like this. 

"YOU..." the souls growled in unison. The air quivered as the message traveled through it. "WE WILL BURY YOU IN THE DEEPEST PARTS OF THE GRAND ABYSS, AND YOU WILL TURN TO ASH AND BECOME NOTHING. AND WHEN WE HAVE BECOME HUMAN, WE SHALL DESTROY EVERY ECHO ACROSS TIME THAT YOU ONCE EXISTED." 

"Go rain on a flower, you cunt," Panne croaked. 

The shadowy form shifted suddenly. A solid pillar of force smashed into her chest and threw her like a ragdoll. A wooden box caught her after she had slid down the wall. The energized tingling and the hurt went together hand-in-hand. Her bottom half hung off the crate, but a tiny, hopelessly optimistic part of her was thankful that none of the supporting planks had snapped her spine. At least it wasn't going after Vallion, she mused. 

A chilled gust meant that it was upon her again. One last try, just like old times. The Braixen grit her teeth, beat against the crate with the side of her fist, and took heed of the way it rocked back and forth. As it tipped forward she grabbed ahold of it telekinetically, contents and all. If things had continued the way they have been recently, then she should have been wracked with pain and uselessness. And a red-hot iron did press itself behind her eyes at the attempt, but something else snapped somewhere behind even that. Panne somehow managed flip the entire box through the air and put it between her and the threat. She didn't have the capacity to wince as her back slammed down, already having lifted her legs to kick the crate forward. Most of the force that sent it flying came from her mind, but the result was nonetheless resounding. Whether it landed or not didn't matter. 

She lifted her arms and willed a brief blast of fire to ward the threat away, yet what came instead was a meager red flame. It danced up from her wrists almost whimsically, until it finally exploded upwards as it reached the tip of a claw. Her muscles felt stretched despite being relaxed, and her bones screamed with growing pains. The Braixen tried to stand but found that everything felt wrong. Her ears felt too heavy, her tail too large, and her legs were too long. Several more moments of confused agony and she was somehow on her feet again-- barely standing on her own, but thankfully mostly numb. Even the scarf around her neck squeezed against the new proportions of her changing biology. 

Rather than the usual short-lived yellow, a crimson chinflame emerged from the palm of her hand to see by. Her breathing no longer came with a price of pain, either. Above everything, the Spiritomb glared down at her transformation with a puzzled contempt. It, too, seemed to hardly believe what had happened within the matter of a few brief moments. And though it was refreshing to see confusion actually cross the demon's face for once, a different problem arose when it turned into sheer anger. Panne took a step backwards and nearly fell over just from the new shape of her legs and the fur that draped them. Her enemy didn't hesitate to surge forward at the opportunity. 

As she raised her arms to protect herself, the discolored flame grew to three times its size at an explosive speed. Next thing Panne knew, she was unharmed with her back to the floor and the Spiritomb had missed entirely, misdirected from the sudden force. A wave of clarity-- or maybe it was instinct-- caused her to suck in as deep a breath as she could. A vortex, she visualized. Heat expanding, spinning, pressurized to a tiny point! And the new fire did as it was told, spiraled around her wrists and launched like a ballista, the beam narrow and bright from how concentrated it was. The ghost's dense body had no choice but to catch the brunt of her attack, curling inward as hot air fought with its cold. It turned to mist and fled deeper into the hull, leaving her in the darkness to heave and wonder. Was she really a Delphox again, just like that? Does this mean that these scarves were functional after all? 

"What...?" Vallion's voice pierced her daze. So meek, but more demanding than anything else. "What happened? Panne, what's going on?" 

She scoured the hull for his green scales, her light twice as potent as before. The Servine looked like he had just woken up from a thousand year nap. "Val! Stay down, it's not gone yet!" Even her voice was deeper. 

The ceiling of the lower hull was flooded with the black mass, and moved like the ocean would if its surface were inverted. Panne rushed over to Vallion in just a few strides, where she towered above him. The Spiritomb's waves splashed along the columns, feigning an advance in every direction. She pumped more fuel into her clasped hands in response, more an act of intimidation than something to help her see. The fire flicked and swirled in strange ways she didn't force it to, and became terribly distracting. As if trying to warn her, it whipped at an impossible angle, where her ears twitched at the sound of water as it swelled. 

The light transformed into a wall of red heat, and like before, something clicked in her head to make the fire explode outwards. The Spiritomb wrapped around, she followed the flank with a pivot and conjured another defensive blast. Vallion stood up behind her as the dance continued. "What do we do? What- I- I can run upstairs and try to get help!" 

"Get away from us!" Panne screamed as she thrust her arms forward to deflect the Spiritomb, but it was like trying to stop the entire tide from washing onto shore. She was getting frustrated, more reckless. All the extra force she put behind her attacks had the same effect as before, and her stance grew less protective and more aggressive by the second. There was so much more she could be doing to blow this bastard into a million pieces! This was her chance! The Delphox pointed her nose towards the ghost while it reared up to engulf them. Mere cinders blew out through her bared teeth, but what came afterward was an entire lungful of the red fire. The two forces met. Hers spread outward, then detonated. 

The shockwave threw them both back, but it was still a fraction of the damage that went to the other side of the exchange. She watched the Spiritomb's body began to oscillate as it processed the concussive energy. Pieces of it broke off and splashed against the soaked floorboards, animate no longer. There were no furious, thousand-voiced roars. It didn't try to scream curses at her or threaten to trap her in hell. There was hardly a sound made as it retreated into mist form and sunk into the wall of the ship. Her flame went from violently whipping to simply lapping at the air, and all the pressure in the room seemed to dissipate. Despite the apparent calm, she was frozen in place and her heart pounded wildly in her chest. 

After a minute or two of bated breaths, Vallion got up and started to stretch. He glanced around the chamber and sighed. "Are all of these people going to be alright? I didn't hit any of them, but everything was sliding around and I didn't have any time to try and catch anything. And- and what about everyone else? Where's Jirachi?" 

"I'm in the loop as far as you are. I have no idea what's going on anymore." Finally, she pushed to a stand. The chamber itself was wrecked, and absolutely drenched at that. Dozens of drops still rained down from the support beams into little pools of standing water-- the beams that were still whole, anyway. Several crates were busted open with their contents strewn about the floor. At least one of the steering mechanisms was visibly and thoroughly broken, probably the one she was next to when the Spiritomb blew up. A few of the sailors had started to stir, though it didn't seem like they were going to actually get up anytime soon. 

There were footsteps above-- the first she had actually heard all night. For some reason, it was more jarring than the fog ever was. They saw the yellow glow before they saw the pokemon. "Hello? Hey! Is everyone alright down there?" Ampharos called out from the stairwell. 

"I don't know!" Vallion shouted back as he checked one of the sailors. "Ampharos!"

The chief hobbled down the stairs, his own light bright enough for Panne to finally lower her hand and rest. Ampharos began to say something, but glanced in her direction for just long enough to do a double-take and forget all about it. "Wait, Panne? What in the world happened down here? It's only been twenty minutes!" 

"I don't know, the Spiritomb chased us down here and sunk through the floor. All of the crewman down here were already out, and so were all the candles. Ha- have you seen Jirachi anywhere? I'm starting to get worried that the Spiritomb bumped them off the ship." She balanced herself against one of the supports. Without all the adrenaline, the ship seemed to sway a whole lot worse, and it didn't help to be soaked and shivering at the same time. 

Ampharos crossed his arms. "Jirachi's on the second layer in the mess hall, out cold like the rest. It was hard enough with the few of us to keep the ship- No, no no. I mean, do those scarves really work after all?" 

Panne looked down at herself and realized in sharper detail what she had become. The wet fur that draped from her arms was given a heaviness she didn't notice before, and so did the natural dress that weighed down the top of her waist and stuck to her slender legs. She reached for Val's scarf, then touched her own. "Oh. I- Yeah. I think they did work. But... usually these things would turn us back after everything's calmed down." Something felt off-- not necessarily wrong, but like she was missing something. The most obvious answer was stranger still than the resurrection of her old power. "We should be calmed down, shouldn't we? Why am I still like this?" 

"Try to take them off," Vallion suggested from behind. She did as instructed, fitting her claws into the crooks of each knot and pulling the fabric apart. Panne held a harmony scarf in either hand by the end, and she was still very much a Delphox from the bottoms of her feet to the tips of her ears. 

A tiny chuckle made her look up again. The electric type exhaled through his nose. "Well, I can't say this is the first time I've seen this happen, but it never really ceases to amaze me. I think I know why you came out of this last battle in one piece, at least." 

"No way... That's..." Her injuries. All of her busted ribs and bruises, Panne couldn't feel any of them. They must have been mended together while her body was in the middle of the transformation. She slid down the pillar and clasped the scarves close to her chest. Beneath all the tufts of fur, new and old, there was still a long patch of scarred flesh that remained hairless. She almost felt a twinge of relief that the old wound was still there at all. 

"It's a shame," Ampharos began again. "This would normally be a cause for celebration, but I can't see much celebrating going on in the near future. We'll have to remedy that when this is all over and Vallion's been cured of his amnesia, hm?" 

The Servine still seemed stunned. At a glance, his tail was crooked and there were several congealing blotches beneath his scales, but there was nothing else blatantly wrong with him. And with how hard he fought, that was where all their luck went. He could have just as easily been whisked away by the Spiritomb to god knows where at any point in that struggle. But without him, she probably would have been drowned and that would have been that. She was supposed to be the one protecting him. A tired smile snuck its way onto her cheek-- partly proud, partly guilty. 

 

Clefable was furious. Not the loud kind, but a seething, silent variant. The fairy would stomp around the deck, begin to say something with a breath, and grumbled it away before any words could meet air. His ship was in tatters-- both above from the might of the finally-passing storm, and below from the skirmishes with the Spiritomb. Panne stood in the midst of the sailors, a mutual anxiety among them despite the fact that she'd hardly spoken to any. There was a kind of anger on the tip of her mind as well, past the exhaustion and the weight of so much change. Though she wasn't sure if it was just second hand or if she was actually forgetting something important. 

"For the love of..." the captain finally spoke up after a full minute of just stammering in his own head. "How?! How did all of ya' let this happen? I can't even- BEGIN to understand how ALL of you lost against this goddamn fluffy cloud! We're up here, workin' our asses off to keep us from sinkin' while the storm just gets worse n' worse and YOU ALL FALL ASLEEP!" He stomped the ground, and the whole ship somehow shook from the blow. Even Comfey seemed to recoil from the sound of it. "Do you know how much money this boat costs? A boat that can walk through hurricanes like it were a stroll in the park? Do you think that's cheap? How about all the parts on the inside that make it worth a damn? How about those!?" 

The Delphox shimmied closer to the exit, step by tiny step. Thanks to the night, she was able to slip down into the ship and out of sight. Panne scurried through the freshly-lit halls with heavy eyelids. The woodwork she passed was absolutely soaked, but that was the only damage up here. Her metabolism was beyond ruined with the change, and it wasn't like she got more than an hour or two of real sleep at most before all this. Now that the waves had mostly passed and there weren't pairs of eyes drilling into the back of her neck, it should actually be possible to fall asleep for once. She sighed at the thought as she hobbled away on her new legs. 

With all the shouting and stomping behind her, Panne swung open the door to her cabin. Before even walking in, she glanced down at the Servine curled up in the corner, all bandaged up and cozy. Val was probably out like a light the second he tried to lay down. Well it'd just make him easier to sidle up next to him, then. A yawn pried her jaw open as she sunk low to the floor. These were all problems she could deal with in the morning. None of them were even her fault, anyway... 

She hadn't closed her eyes for more than a few tranquil moments before her ears twitched at a familiar sound. Normally in a state like this, it would have taken the whole Society to move her, but something clicked and woke her right up. The Delphox sat up and thought as hard as her tired mind would allow. Who did that noise belong to, and why did it upset her to even hear? As much as it pained her to get up, the mystery seemed to outweigh the effort and pulled her to her feet. It was just one peek, right? And only to figure out why it bugged her so much. THEN she'd finally let herself get some sleep. 

At first Panne only peeked through a crack in the door. Then she stuck her whole head out, and soon after her whole body as she shuffled into the corridor. Still nothing, even all the way down. It had to have been just out here, this is where the sound came from... Whatever. She was probably just hallucinating or something. With the Spiritomb around, who could tell what was- 

"Panne!" She sprung backwards and hit her head on the doorframe. The Delphox crumpled over back in her cabin, ears back and teeth bared. It wasn't actually a threat, at least, but damn was this ship built way too thick. "Oh. Sorry, I suppose you would be quite edgy this late at night. Wait. You look a little different," Hydreigon muttered and leaned their heads in. 

"You-" her words jumbled up inside her own mouth as she rubbed the bump on her head. "I- Why did you- WHERE WERE YOU?!" 

The dragon recoiled. "What? I was just a little ways up above the ship. There was a disturbance in the weather, so I went up there to try and figure out where the abomination might be hiding. I don't think it ever manifested, so maybe it was just attacking the vessel itself rather than-" 

"Idiot! The Spiritomb was down here, trying to kill us!" All of her frustration came back at once. The helpless feeling as the demon bat them around like toys, the sensation of drowning in its icy body, and the uncertainty of when Jirachi was whisked away-- all of it could have been prevented by the one pokemon who could resist its power. "Did you not even think to come down here and check if we were alright?! I almost died! Val almost died! Hell, everyone almost died! If the stars didn't line up and let me evolve, you would've come back down to a sinking ship! We needed your help!" 

"Oh. I was trying to prevent it from coming down, but I suppose it slipped past me... I didn't know that the ship was under attack at any point. Maybe it would have been better to have made a way for you to contact me in an emergency." 

Her claws dug into her palms. "I made the entire ship glow! Was that not enough for you to think 'Oh well maybe something's going on down there'? That's about the flashiest thing I could have possibly done and you outright ignored it! Were you even paying attention at all? You know, to the giant, glowing ship full of things you said you were going to protect? During a worsening storm caused by the very thing that wants to suck out our souls that could very well be anywhere and everywhere at that very second?" 

Hydreigon backed up further down the hall, eyes wide but steady. "Okay! I understand it was a mistake to leave like that, and another to have such a one-track mind! And I won't make the same ones again, but for goodness sake you need to calm down. You look like you're about to pass out. Evolution takes a lot of energy." 

"No," Panne muttered. "No, it's not okay. That thing is a water type now, I wasn't supposed to win at all. We're not all at the bottom of the ocean right now because apparently being a Delphox means I can make fire explode. I don't even understand what that means yet, and I'm too tired to care right now. Everyone else that was still awake was up on deck-- and thank god for that, because otherwise we would have probably just tipped right over when the Spiritomb started making rogue waves!" 

The dragon stopped their retreat and stared down at the floor. A creak echoed through the ship as they looked up again, all their heads in unison. "I get it. Your point is across, you have my word. But the only reason you're still standing right now is that wall you're leaning on. You're going to get light-headed if you keep yelling like that." 

"Are you even taking me seriously?" she growled and pushed off of the side of the corridor. What if they stayed up there on purpose? Maybe they wanted Val to get killed so that they wouldn't have to do it themselves? Revenge for Alexander and a clean slate, all wrapped up into one. The very thought made smoke pour the corners of her mouth. "Listen! You said you were repaying a favor to Val by helping him out with this, right? That's a promise if I've ever heard one, and I don't let people break their promises. If something happens to him and you end up being too thoughtless to stop it, I wouldn't let you get away with it. I would NEVER let you get away with it. Make that your number one priority, understand?" 

"...You know, you could have just asked me nicely and I would have still listened," Hydreigon said. She didn't let up her grimace, even if her eyelids were halfway closed. The dragon didn't seem particularly fazed by her frustration anymore. Rather, they seemed kind of exasperated, like they were being forced to put up with her. "Get some sleep, Panne. It's been a rough night, I'm sure." They twisted around in the narrow hall and began to float off. With every inch further they got, the Delphox felt her resolve to stay angry weaken. Before they were even out of sight, Panne slinked back into her room and slammed the door behind her. A pang of regret tore into her heart in an instant. 

From the way he was sitting, Vallion had already been awake for some time before that. She squirmed under his gaze, and spoke up before he could. "D-don't worry about a thing. Everything's going to be fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to you anymore, not anything tonight. Come on, let's get some sleep now. You deserve it for how hard you fought." 

"Why do you have to be so angry?" the Servine spoke in a monotone. "Hydreigon is only trying to help. Everyone is. I feel like you're being way too rigid with people." 

For just a moment, she found the anger to snap back. "Well... They aren't taking this seriously enough! We're in serious danger with this-- like, a worse-than-death kind of danger! Whether you realize it or not, this is probably one of the most important things we’ve done since Dark Matter. Finishing a map of the world doesn't even come onto the radar of how much it means to me. If we mess this up even a little bit, we could lose your memories forever!" 

Vallion shook his head, then curled back up into a ball. "Now you're just being dramatic," he said, muffled by his own tail. "Please don't get upset with people like every mistake they make is on purpose. It's not always going to be their fault. Things can get scary, it can be hard to know what to do. I don't need all my memories to know something as simple as that." 

Panne sucked in a breath as if she knew what to say, but frowned instead. Exhaustion guided her body along the wall next to him, but confliction kept them apart. She didn't want to fall asleep anymore. She wanted to talk it out-- to reach an actual conclusion that would get rid of this hollow feeling in her chest. But that wasn't going to happen. It took enough effort already just to keep her eyelids just open. "I don't want to be upset at people," she muttered. There was no impact behind her own words, and it was too difficult to figure out why.


	15. Pressure

Only from the very tip of the stern was Panne able to see the Grass Continent, and even then, it was nothing more than a tiny streak on the horizon. She'd seen this kind of sight more times than she cared to remember, but right now, it was one of the most welcoming sights in days. A call from the lookout above confirmed her hopes that the hard part of the journey was almost over. But there weren't any hollers of joy to join into, there was hardly a murmur at all. After last night, nobody really had the energy to be excited about it. The remaining wet spots on the deck were constant reminders of that. A yawn pushed its way out of the Delphox's throat as she hopped back down to the deck. 

"Hey, you better get ready," she said to the Servine. "It's almost time for you to see the Grass Continent for the first time again! It's a little more impressive than the one we just left-- at least, I tend to think so. A little less mild." 

Despite them being on even ground, Val still had to turn his nose up to look at her face. "Hm? Oh... Yeah, I'll check it out." He turned away, and continued to occupy himself with the idle task at hand. All the excitement in her chest froze up, and guilt soon took its place. It was because of her that he was like this. With a sigh, she returned to the front of the ship and squinted at the approaching horizon. Maybe he'd enjoy himself more if she just left him alone. 

Above the sandstone cliffs were intermingled layers of green, canopy ceilings and grass carpets alike. The salted wind whipped at her fur dress as the Viridian adjusted its course northward along the shore. She recognized the landscape, at least the geology of it. This was definitely around where their destination was supposed to be. They hadn't been knocked so far off course by the storm that they were lost. Panne silenced her thoughts as she scanned up and down the coast, searching for signs of civilization. 

Out in the shallows, the silhouettes of water types stood out against the sand as they hunted for their midday meal. Their movements were mimicked by flying types in the sky seeking the same thing. It was certainly a lot more activity than one might expect to see in a single place. Towns have always attracted wildlings. They're a concrete existence in an ever-changing world, it was only natural to flock to such a place. Both predators and prey might end up nearby a village and not even notice it, she was just thankful to see wildlings at all. Pokemon were driven from their homes everywhere the Spiritomb went, and since it followed them everywhere, the loneliness was really starting to get to her. 

Eventually, the stretch of jungle gave way to colors besides the endless green. She could only see the first layer of the village at first, the tiny houses closer to open huts than anything. As the center clearing of the settlement came into view, modern buildings seemed to sprout up alongside larger huts. A group of children, made up of random types and species, paused their game to stare at the massive ship that had just come into view. The little village struck a chord in her heart, kind of like home. The Delphox gave a wave to the children, but only one waved back. 

A clinking rhythm filled the air as both anchors plunged into the soft sand. Some of the normal crew came up on deck to oversee the landing, most of their faces sullen with a lack of sleep. Vallion had the same kind of tired expression, though he was the only one who moved the way he looked. She watched from afar as the Servine took a long glance at the village, then turned away with his nose to the ground like it just wasn't interesting enough. There had to be something else on his mind. Val never used to get this caught up on stuff, unless he was blaming himself. Her brows furrowed with worry, but there was no time to act on it. 

Clefable's voice boomed above everything else. "We're at Grass! Everyone gettin' off here, get your junk together an' get the hell off my ship! We're shovin' back off in an hour. If not all of you are down there by the time the sun ticks by, you're comin' back with us!" 

The process of unloading had begun, and she was well prepared. After having crossed the evolutionary hill that pounded migraines into her head, Panne found it easier than ever to use telekinesis. Stationed at the top of the supply chain, her and Kadabra's jobs were to pick up several crates at a time and lower them down to the beach below, where more of the curious villagers had started to gather. With the shallows between the ship and actual dry beach, it was just better to have the psychics move everything by themselves. Hydreigon transported some of the heavier boxes down to the ground, but seemed to disappear as soon as the task was complete with hardly a word.There were also a few crewman that helped out in moving the essentials, and a few more that sneered in the Society's general direction. It was hard to blame them with the damages she and the Spiritomb caused. 

A rope ladder was dropped over the side and secured on the railings. Panne made sure to tie her dress up around her tail, there wasn't any need to go through another three hours just getting dry again. While she did so, Mawile climbed down into the surf and Jirachi flew out to meet with the growing crowd. The Delphox saw faces she recognized out in the sea of villagers. Dedenne was present among the front, as was Mismagius in the far back. High above the trees and up the coast, Altaria made her descent towards them. 

When it came time for Panne to climb down into the waves, she took to the ladder as methodically as possible with her new proportions. The splash at the bottom was cold enough to race up her back like a shock. After a yelp, and a moment of cringing, she sucked it in and trudged the rest of the way through. Once on the shore, she shouted out to her friends. "Hey guys! Quit ignoring me, I'm right here!" 

Even then, it still took Dedenne a good moment to recognize her. "Oh my gosh, are you serious? It's only been a few weeks, what happened to you, Panne? I thought you were one of the crewman!" 

A shadow flew over them, followed by a great thud as Altaria hurried to the ground. "I didn't believe it from the air, and I can still hardly believe it now! Goodness, I saw you just a few days ago! You're so... tall! And your legs are so much more slender than before! Oh, I wish I could have been there! How on earth did you manage to evolve in such a short time?" 

"Necessity, I guess. It definitely wasn't on purpose," Panne said and shrugged, passively undoing the knot that kept her dress high. "I'm still really sore from it. I guess a lot happened while we were on that boat, it feels like it's been months since I felt solid ground under my feet." 

Another splash, someone else had made the plunge. The Delphox turned her head and saw the green streak swerve as Vallion swam towards shore. Her heart jumped back up into her throat as she stuck a finger beneath the scarf on her wrist and gulped. 

"Oh, how's he been doing? I've only heard about what happened from other people," Dedenne spoke in a hushed tone. "We're all on the Grass Continent because the Hydreigon needed something here to fix him, right? Has he not gotten any of his memories back since Floatzel last called us?" 

The Delphox shook her head as Val crawled up onto shore. "No, nothing." 

Altaria immediately rushed over and started to coddle the Servine. As much as Panne wanted to call the dragon back, she just bit her tongue while he was promptly overwhelmed. Maybe it'd be best to stop worrying so much. She thought about last night-- how he was somehow still so strong and calm against the Spiritomb. Why did he get so upset she snapped at Hydreigon? Surely it wasn't just her. 

"You look troubled," there was a soft voice behind her, almost just in sing-song. Mismagius appeared out of thin air like usual. "I can imagine the difficult time you must be having with this." 

"It's fine," she lied. 

Mismagius shook his head, then stared off at something well beyond the back of her head. "Are you sure to trust this Hydreigon character with Vallion's memories? I've certainly never heard of them before, but perhaps I haven't met as many pokemon as you two. Do they really have the means of curing this kind of amnesia?" 

"I... don't think I trust them one-hundred percent. They've at least shown me that they know about events and things pretty much only we do. Unless they were bluffing literally everything up until this point, which I kind of doubt." But they could still be plotting something else, she thought. They had plenty of reason to do so. 

"How do you even know you found the right Hydreigon?!" Volcarona yelled down from above, kicking up a cloud of sand upon landing. "Oh wow. Panne, when did you evolve? And what's with the weird scarf you're wearing around your neck?" 

The ghost type grunted. "You know, this was supposed to be a private conversation. You aren't supposed to announce private conversations to the world." 

Panne answered Volcarona's question regardless. "If this isn't the right Hydreigon, then we've found the world's best liar. No, we probably have the right one. I'm just not sure if they have other motives than just repaying a favor. This is a lot to ask of someone Vallion apparently barely knew." 

From down the beach a ways, Ampharos boomed. "I'm glad to see that the rest of you made it safely! Come, come! Gather up, everybody!" They formed up in the usual lines for the meeting, much to the interest of some of the locals. Panne motioned Vallion next to herself before the chief spoke up again. "Ah, good! This is good! I only have to bring everyone up to speed once. Now, for those who came here on their own-- how was the journey? Did any of you have to suffer the storm that had been chasing us?" 

It was Dedenne that answered with a scoff. "No, but Volcarona forgot to charge her gadget before she left the first time. Again. I had to call her myself almost half a day after everyone else. She got here only three hours ago." 

"Hey! That's not my fault! There's nothing that says how much charge is left to begin with! Maybe if Jirachi actually made a new version for once I would've known that it needed to be charged." After the Volcarona's complaints were met with silence, she made a frustrated buzz with her wings. "Oh come on! You forget one little thing and everyone nags you for it forever! The last time was a whole year ago! We're all here now, that's the only thing that really matters!" 

Ampharos nodded, likely only out of pity. "Well said. There is still much to prepare for, I’d imagine we'll be leaving here early tomorrow once everyone gets a proper rest. We've got a harsh journey ahead of us, and we’re still leaving harsh journey behind us. Personally, I'd sure like to have a full meal that I can keep down..." 

To this, Altaria's eyes lit up. "Well you won't have to worry about that much longer. This little village is absolutely darling, they've been preparing a feast for us all this time! I've even tried some of the food already, and it's hard to express how humbling an experience it was." 

"Wha- really? A feast?" Kadabra said. "I don't anyone's thrown one of those for me yet. This is only the second expedition I've ever been on." 

Mismagius hummed. "I'd say they're fairly fond of the Expedition Society. Apparently the stories Altaria told them were enough to make us seem mighty and mysterious. It's sure nice to feel appreciated instead of just respected. You'd think that Panne and Vallion would have statues by now with all they've done." 

The conversation wound down from there. It was a minor field meeting at best, there was much more to discuss when the time was right. Once they all broke apart, the next task was to move the crates and supplies from the beach up into town. Panne got a better look at the villagers and their home along the way. The adults were quiet, content just to see some new faces for once, while the children followed them with wide eyes. There was also a distinct difference in the architecture of the village, like at some point two cultures clashed together and started to combine. There were modern stone-laid houses amidst huge palm huts, and at times these two aspects fused into one. She only needed to move the crates to the outside of one the smaller huts, the rest of the Society would ferry them in later. 

On her way back for the next set of crates, she passed Vallion on his way up. They just continued on right past each other, but however brief, the encounter stuck in her mind. His expression had been so empty, like a flower closed up without sunlight. It wasn't how this was supposed to be at all. It became hard for her to concentrate on the task at hand, nearly to the point that she nearly dropped the next set of freight. Something had to be done about him today, any later than tonight would be too late. 

Panne was supposed to be at the elder's hut by now. Everyone else was there, waiting patiently so that they could make a proper arrival. Instead, she snuck off into the outskirts of the village, following a good twenty feet behind the Servine as her heart drummed faster and faster. What was she going to say? How could she word what she wanted to say? Vallion came to a stop in a patch of tall grass just before the upper cliff of the beach. She peered past him and saw the Viridian fade into the distance, its white sails wide and proud. Something about the scene struck her as incredibly foreboding. 

"Val," the Delphox finally spoke up and motioned closer. 

He turned around. There wasn't even a flicker of a reaction in his eyes. "What?" 

"Hi." She pressed through the grass and began to share the view on the same footing. There was a terrible silence that followed, and it had to be her to break it. Her tongue spelled out the words before she mustered the breath to actually say them. "I get that there's a lot going on. Is there... any way that I can actually help out? Like, is there anything in particular that's bugging you? I promise I won't freak out or tell anyone about it." 

There was a soft rumbling in his throat. "Hrm... no thanks. I don't want to talk about anything." 

"Is it something Hydreigon said to you?" her mind jumped back to yesterday, and the whispered conversation he had with the dragon. The Servine blinked at her, turned his eyes back to the ocean, and refused to look at her again. He didn't even do her the kindness of dissuading the notion. "Listen, Val, I know how important that pokemon is right now. They're the only way to get your memories back that we're aware of. And I know it seems like they know what they're talking about, but we just can't trust them one-hundred percent. There's way too much at risk for us to do that, and we have no way of knowing if they're being entirely honest with us." 

Vallion snorted. "Aren’t you just saying that because you're too paranoid?" 

It took her a moment to register his words. "What? No, of course not! They're plenty shifty enough to warrant keeping a bit of distance. I've mistrusted people for even less than this!" 

"At first, I kinda thought you were the kind of person that could put your trust in anyone. It was the first few days after what happened, I thought maybe you were still too stressed out. Now that I've been around a little longer, it's easier to see that I was wrong. It's like you're more scared of me than you like me." A breeze jostled the leaves above and allowed a beam of sunlight to filter down and glint off his eyes. 

"I... I think I used to be more like that." She shook her head, this wasn't the time for this. "Listen. You're the one that fought with Alexander, that one human Hydreigon said was his favorite back at the compound. You ended up being the reason Alexander got hurt. I know, because I was there. That's where I got the scar that's on my chest. If Hydreigon knows that it was you, then he could just be playing stupid to get back at you. They could be the one we're supposed to be scared of, not the bastard Spiritomb." 

"The Hydreigon hasn't given us a reason to be distrusted. They said that they didn't know the other human that fought Alexander. It sure seemed genuine to me." 

Her fists started to uncurl. "Why wouldn't they know, though? With all the information and knowledge they dumped on us, you'd think that they'd figure out something as important to them as that. It was just three months after Dark Matter too! You were the only other human on the Water Continent at that time! You'd think that someone who keeps tabs on everything would want to find out exactly what happened if two humans ended up fighting, especially if they were actually close to one of them!" 

"I think you just trying to rationalize that. Nobody can know everything. Maybe they didn't want to know, so that if a situation like this happened they wouldn't have any biases. Why don't you just ask Hydreigon instead, so that you can actually know for sure?" 

"Val, please," Panne felt her back go rigid with stress. "Think about it. They haven't been distrustful at all, that's the suspicious part. This is a Hydreigon of all things, one of the most vicious kinds of dragons, and so far they've been completely innocent! That species of pokemon is anything but that! I mean, if it were any other then we would've been betrayed days ago! I'm not saying that we shouldn't trust them, not at all, but make sure you don't blindly follow what they say. Be wary of them at the very least." 

The Servine closed his eyes and allowed the silence to perpetuate. She nearly held her breath until he began to speak again. "They don't even have to be a Hydreigon. I'm pretty sure they're hardly a pokemon to begin with.There are more pokemon in the world than just me, Panne. Think about Floatzel, or Sawsbuck. They're not any less of people because I'm around. More than just Hydreigon, you need to stop treating everyone like they're not important." 

"I'm trying to help you! I don't mean to yell at anyone, I just- I get so worried!" It became too hard to look directly at him. "This whole trip and everyone on it, they're here for you! We're all here so that you can get better. The Society scattered across the continents to find a single dragon who could have been anywhere. And even after all that, you're still more important to me. But it can take so little for everything to start going wrong. Please, I'm not trying to hurt anyone. There's just too much I don't know about Hydreigon for me to feel comfortable." 

"Then solve the mystery. Find out yourself instead of telling me to not trust them." 

She took a deep, quivering breath. "I'm scared that if I tried to press them and really they didn't know about your fight with Alexander, they would figure it out and I'd just start what I was trying to stop. And... I guess I was really worried that they might have told you something to demotivate you. Or change what you think of me." 

Vallion started to mumble, "You're not making this any easier." 

"What?" 

"...I'm going back to the village now." He turned around, and in just a brief moment completely disappeared into the tall grass. 

The rustling soon faded and only the quiet howl of the sea remained. Seconds continued to pass, and with each one the feeling of frustration grew. The Delphox snarled as tears formed in her eyes. Her muscles tensed, she reared up and struck a nearby sapling as hard as she could. A stifled shout rumbled out of her throat. The tree exploded into red flames, but only long enough to singe the bark before she slid down its length onto the ground. 

"Well it took you long enough!" Volcarona's voice bounced around the hut as Panne pressed through the curtain. "You know we were supposed to start twenty minutes ago, right? I get this is the day you're supposed to rest, but we've all still got things to do!" 

The Delphox glanced around the spacious room. In the center of it all was a burning pyre surrounded by the pillars which supported the whole building. Log seats and decorated braziers encircled the fire, and most of the hut was already occupied. She saw the Society on one side, and a whole group of pokemon she didn't know on the other. Sitting at the front of the villagers was a Sceptile with patches of cracked scales, along with a stoic Staraptor whose eyes seemed to glare at anything that moved. "Ah! We can finally begin!" the Sceptile said, his voice as hoarse as his appearance. She found a seat to herself on the side of her friends and crossed her legs. Her heart was still heavy in her chest. 

"We'll get right down to business, then," Mawile said as she cleared her throat. "I suppose you know the chorus by now, but just for formality's sake, the Expedition Society is grateful for your generosity Elder Sceptile. We humbly accept your invitation so that we might regroup and prepare for the next leg of our journey. We have brought gifts in thanks for your service-- exotic tools and supplies from our home on Water Continent. We hope that you can use them well and learn from our stay." Mawile let a sigh seep through her teeth. "It really has been a long way here. I'm just happy for a place to stay with a roof over our heads." 

"It'sh no problem at aull," the Sceptile said with a shrug, their accent far sharper than she expected. "You have been wonderful guestsh, and the thingsh we learn from outsidersh like you are truly amazing. Our home ish yoursh for the time being. I undershtand that you are here becaushe one of your own got injured, right? Now that we're aull here, may I ashk what happened, or ish that too far?" 

Ampharos shook his head. "A Servine that's been with us for years is under the effects of a strange amnesia, and we are on our way to hopefully find a cure for him." He turned towards her expectantly. "Honestly, I expected him to be with you when you returned, Panne. I thought that was what you went out to do. Where'd he run off to?" 

"I don't know," she said as she stared at the rugs. Even the elder's ridiculous speech pattern didn't help lighten the mood. "I... tried looking, but I couldn't really find him. He's around here somewhere." 

"Do not worry, no harm will come to him in theshe partsh," Sceptile nodded. "If he ish ill, we will do what we can. The tashk may not be the brightesht, however, but it hash been sho long from the lasht time we've had gueshts! Pleashe, you musht at leasht enjoy yourshelves for today! For now, it ish a time of shelebration!" 

Altaria nodded readily. "Of course! I told them about the feast when they got here. And we do have a cause for celebration after all, since the Delphox sitting with us was still a Braixen just a few days ago. What better time to have a feast than now?" There are plenty of better times than right now, Panne thought to herself. 

"Ah, a maturity sheremony! I washn't expecting one of thoshe today, we'll need more to make more preparationsh!" the elder motioned to get up, but the Staraptor's wing extended to settle him back down. 

"N-no thanks, I don't think I need the ceremony part. A feast would be more than enough," Panne assured the Sceptile. 

The meeting itself was far from her mind. Ampharos went into greater depth of the gifts they had brought, Sceptile went into the identity of the village and how it came to be-- plenty of things she couldn't work herself up to care for. It felt like she was having just as bad a time with this stop as Vallion was. And why was nobody asking where the Hydreigon had went? She watched him fly off during the unloading and they've been gone since. As much as Val's words still stung in her head, was that not suspicious enough? If they weren't doing anything malicious, why wouldn't they just say that they were leaving? It's seriously not that hard to prevent these kinds of problems from happening. It's not about how important anyone is or isn't. It's about figuring out who she can rely on and who should be kept at a distance. Why didn't she just say that back there? 

"And thish Shpiritomb-- you shay it'sh going to come here?" Panne's ears perked back up to the conversation. 

Ampharos gave an affirmative grunt. "It's most likely going to pass through here in pursuit of us. There's a chance that also means that a typhoon will flood the coast and head inland. I don't believe it will be terribly soon, but after tonight you should be wary of a few signs. Raving nightmares, a itch in the back of your throat, and a burning in your sinuses are a few of the most noticeable things you can pick out." 

The Sceptile leaned forward in his seat. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Our huntersh are plenty prepared to take on mosht threatsh like that. And after lasht shummer, we know how to defend againsht a hurricane well enough." 

"Well this is no natural hurricane," Ampharos pressed. "In fact, there's a very high chance that a number of your villagers might end up dying unless you take the necessary precautions. It's merely the cloak of a more powerful being. A Spiritomb that can bend the weather to its will is already something catastrophic. It's not a battle you can afford to-" 

"We will be fine," said a Seismitoad in the back, the first pokemon on that end besides the elder to speak. "We are built on the hill. Before, the storm ripped away our homes. Now we are high, and the waters will not reach. The storm will do nothing." 

Mawile shook her head. "No, you misunderstand. It's what's in the storm that you have to watch for. It won't let itself be harmed by physical means, it probably wouldn't even turn corporeal unless it sees an opportunity to pick someone off. It's not something you'll be able to fight with tooth and claw. Only with organization can you prevent the most damage." 

A shrill voice stole the room's attention as the Staraptor finally spoke up. "We have been attacked by creatures like this before. There are patterns to their movements, and ways to fight them. Do not concern yourselves with our well-being. Enjoy yourselves and be on your way at your leisure." 

"Ah, shee?" the elder said and nodded. "Dalo is right. Shpirits of the dead have haunted thish land before, but they have long shince pashed with our effortsh. You have enough to worry about." 

Jirachi's head tilted. "Dalo? Is that a name?" 

"Indeed! He earned it from the Fearow before him-- and many more before them, for that matter. It ish a tradition we carry from the time theshe woodsh were young. I notished that the Delphoksh had a name, ash well. Shomething you earned during the cataclyshm shome yearsh back? I heard from your Altaria fellow that mosht of you had played a part in shtopping it." 

"Yeah. Something like that," Panne muttered. 

"Namesh are a great reshponshibility." The Sceptile leaned forward and glared into her eyes, and in his narrow pupils she suddenly felt a cold authority. "They are like a tall cliff you shtand upon, built from the dirt that shurroundsh it and packed down by the feet of your peersh. If shomeone upholdsh a name, they are making the ashertion of power. It'sh not shomething you shee often around here, though I'm not shurtain how it ish where you come from. I'm shure shomeone like you hash done plenty to earn your title, anyway. Perhapsh you should tell ush shome of the shtories tonight?" 

Just as quickly as it came, the intensity faded away for the almost jovial atmosphere that came before it. The Delphox slumped back down as her eyes were drawn towards the dancing fire. She was thinking too much now, her wrist was starting to itch because of it. There had to be something else she could do to help Vallion, regardless of how unresponsive he is. Nobody wants to force themselves to be sad. She just had to find the right angle, and maybe he'd finally start to cheer up again. This was one of the few chances she'd have at making him feel like the hero he is. For all the mistakes she's made today, there was still a chance to get her feelings across. The pyre began to flicker as if it were trying to nod. She blinked, and its motions had returned to normal.


	16. The Voice of Reason

The Delphox walked with a heavy heart. Decorations were still being raised all around her, but she was thankful for the moment to herself more than anything. The marbled sky grew all the more colorful as dusk approached. More faces continued to emerge from buildings beyond the center, most on their way to join in on the preparations.The fire pit in the center was nearly filled with timber by now, and the ash from the last event was used as drawing chalk. The perches were starting to fill with avians and insects alike, most assumedly wildlings that caught wind of the celebration. In the far distance, Volcarona loudly regaled a group of young hunters with the tale of an adventure that was strikingly different from when Panne last heard it. Strange, delicious smells wafted from the huts deeper in the trees, smoke billowing from their chimneys. The village was beginning to grow as radiant as the colors in the sky. 

Her solitude didn't last long. Mawile soon approached with a map in hand and a worried look on her face. "Hey Panne, are we going to take a path close to Mt. Bristle or not? It'd be faster to just cut right through, but those foothills are still a part of the mystery dungeon there. We might run into some territorial pokemon if we scrape too close to the mountain. I doubt we'd get too deep into trouble, but depending on how much the Spiritomb upsets the environment, we might get slogged way down." 

"We'll be fine," Panne drew a straight line on the map with her claw. "We're going to get hit by the storm again, anyway. The farther we can get inland before that bastard reforms, the better off we'll be. Little skirmishes aren't going to matter as much, and we can probably stall the Spiritomb's storm out in the mountains." 

"Right, I'll go tell Amph then." Mawile glanced around at the commotion and frowned. "Still no Vallion?" 

She shrugged. "He's somewhere. I'm sure he'll turn up once the feast starts." 

The fairy nodded and scurried off towards the meeting hall. The Delphox pursed her lips. She swerved away from the commotion and scanned the shadows beneath the trees for Vallion’s colors. A tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her that there was no finding him if he didn't want to be found-- certainly not in a place like this. Still, she pressed through the bushes on the perimeter of the village’s center and searched. Why did everyone have to disappear without saying where they were going? This really wasn't the time to be moping around alone, they were still being hunted! She delved deeper into the surrounding jungle, but the waning sun made it difficult to find anything. 

A warm gust brushed the fur on her back. Panne twisted around and froze up in the shadow of something large. The massive form descended through the canopy with a crash, a storm of debris kicked up into the air as it stabilized itself. Hydreigon's six wings beat in unison . "Ah, there you are! I've been looking for you! This village is so subtle, I would have probably missed it entirely if not for the flying types." 

"No, not again! You can't get away with that!" The Delphox stomped into the slight clearing they made with their descent. "That's the last time you're leaving without a trace! How is anyone supposed to trust you when you're just going to go off on your own? What if Vallion got into trouble again and I wasn’t there to help him? What would even be the point of you coming along with us?!" 

"I- I assumed you were all safe because we had reached the village. Did something happen?" The dragon tilted their heads. 

Panne felt a groan well up in her throat. "Nothing happened, but that's not the point! You can't just zoom off and do whatever you want, even if we aren't in any danger! There's a point to actually agreeing to work together. What were you doing that it took you this long to get back?" 

After a moment's hesitance, Hydreigon motioned their left mouth forward and opened its jaw. Something glistened in the dim light, though it was difficult to see exactly what. The scent of earthy plants wafted through the air. "I was out gathering some local components we might need later, but there was a confrontation down at the shore at one point. I flew down to see what the problem was, and a Wailmer hailing from deep in the nearby sea had brought terrible news to those on land. There's been a wave of corpses drifting slowly into the depths since yesterday, possibly hundreds of pokemon. I think the abomination's been fairly busy even outside the city." 

"Are you serious?" Her ears pivoted back, a grimace stuck on her face. "Go, then! Tell the others, they're just in that central hut over there. We might need to start moving soon!" 

"It's too late to head out, you know that," Hydreigon said and pulled the mouthful of strange herbs away. "As long as the storm hasn't reformed, the Spiritomb likely won't have the same degree of strength. You should be fine for at least half a night's rest at least. It must have taken a great deal of damage for it to have receded like it did. Besides, it would be foolish to confront us at our full strength." 

Panne shook her head. "It doesn't need to confront anyone when it could just flood everything! I don't... just go tell everyone, alright? I've got to look for Val!" 

"Hmm, what happened with Vallion?" The dragon started to lean in, but she had already started to walk away. She waved them towards the center and took off down the path, her other hand fidgeting against her chest. Possibly hundreds? If three pokemon in the city was almost enough for Vallion to freak out, how would he deal with hundreds? With the way he was now, there was little she could even do to convince him of anything. The blood pressure in her veins made the tips of her fingers tingle, but even then she still felt so tired. Tired of being awake, tired of not being able to do anything. 

It felt impossible to trust the Hydreigon, there was just no way around it, Panne just couldn’t figure them out, especially with that connection to Alexander still looming above their heads. Hysteria fluttered up from within as she stormed through the brush. It was funny how Alexander was getting his revenge, no matter how indirect it was. Was it not enough that she was beaten down and thrown into a cage? Was that fatal chest wound too minor for him still? The Delphox’s grip tightened around her wrist. She was arguing in her head with imaginary people now, and they had nothing to do with what was going on, anyway. 

The time of the feast must have drawn near, Panne could hear excited voices even from the overgrown outskirts. There was a distant cheering, then the unmistakable sound of something large catching flame. An orange flash stole her eyes from the task at hand. Through the thickets and past narrow trees she saw a massive inferno rise up in the heart of the village. Sceptile's silly dialect shouted over the cracks and growls of the fire. Though Panne could only hear snippets of what he was saying, it didn't take a scholar to guess that they were about the Society. The wind carried the scent of fresh smoke, as well as other distinct spices that made her mouth water. Even if her heart felt hollow, her stomach had another agenda entirely. Maybe the smell would lure him back as well. 

It was absolutely packed around the fire when she finally made her way back. The crowd was full of pokemon of every shape and size, and the perches were stacked from edge to edge as well. There was an elevated platform Sceptile stood atop to address them all, and another perch nearby that held the menacing silhouette of the Staraptor. A shuffling figure made its way through the front of the crowd and onto the rostrum-- Ampharos cleared the stairs and gave a wave. There was a palmwood bowl filled with a dark liquid in his hand, and judging from how unusually steady his posture was, it had to be at least slightly alcoholic. Mawile and Dedenne must have been preparing for the worst right now. 

The ceremony began while Ampharos gave a speech of his own, which inevitably transitioned into some kind of story. Whole platters of food were carried out from the far huts, plated with palm leaves and far more aesthetically dynamic than what she expected. Fruits and vegetables both-- pickled, boiled, grilled, and seared. There were many spices she recognized in the air, and at least one or two more that eluded her memory. And of course, then came the white and dark meats. She couldn't tell what pokemon the meals used to be, but it didn't matter much to the primal tick in the back of her head. All these foods encircled the fire on a spiral of tables, perfectly inviting to any palette present. This little village had stolen away with so many cultures that she counted dishes from at least two other continents. The fire snapped, the Sceptile extended his arm outward, and the frenzy began. 

She finally saw him. A Servine stood on the outskirts of the crowd, a bandage on his tail and a bewildered expression on his face. Panne immediately pressed straight towards him, pushing opposite of the hungry current of pokemon. When she finally did make it to his side, it was twice as difficult to come up with the right words. They simply stared at one another for a few moments while boisterous laughter and carefree string instruments filled the air. "Val," she eventually began. "Please, please don't go running off without a trace! I know you can handle yourself, but that thing-- it's not going to care how independent you are, it's just going to grab you and run off! We need to stick together." 

"I just needed some time to myself," he replied above the noise. 

"There are better ways to get time to yourself without worrying me half to death!" 

Val shook his head. "I think just about anything I did would have caused you to worry yourself to death. There's no use in beating around the bush when you're just going to panic anyway." 

Panne sighed, at least he was okay. "You know what? We're all here now, so everything's fine. We're going to be leaving tomorrow morning, we should be safe until then." She shot a glance towards the feast and the frivolity that surrounded it, the pit of her stomach eager to join in. With the Servine at her side, there wasn't anything else left to hold her back. "Well now that you're here, what are you going to do? You haven't even tried to fit in yet and you're already sulking in a corner. Why not try to have some fun for once?" 

He shrugged with his vines. "I'm hungry, I guess. Did I care much for big parties like this before I lost my memories?" 

"Goodness, no! You only ever showed up to them because I wanted to go, and we're usually guests of honor at the medium ones anyway. It doesn't take more than just ten pokemon for you to get upset." Panne nudged him towards the fire. "I mean, I get it's a little packed here, but you're new to all this, right? It's not gonna kill you." 

Vallion glared at the sea of bodies, Panne bit her tongue all the while. What would she have done when she was younger? The question rolled around in her mind for a bit, though the fact that she had to linger on such a thing at all seemed wrong. Enough waiting, she wouldn't have waited! The Delphox reached forward, grabbed at his vine, and began to pull him towards the excitement. "Come on, you can't waste all night just thinking about it! There's all sorts of food you could be trying and you're just standing there!" 

Even now, more bowls were being brought out with extra helpings of what was already ripped through. She dragged him around towards the herbivorous section, feigning ignorance of the steaming moral dilemma on the other side. There were plenty of salads, and he probably already realized the kind of pokemon that surrounded him by now. The Servine blinked at the endless variety, way too far out of his element. "I... I don't even know where to start!" 

"You're supposed to start anywhere, That's the point." She gave him a helpful push towards one of the dishes. "I know there's at least one thing here that you'd want to eat. There has to be. Didn't you want to find out which flavors you still like from before?" 

When he finally did get the courage to step forward and try something, the unease on his face was entirely replaced. The corners of her mouth turned up, but all this time it had been watering. That chunk of anxiety was gone, and they both joined the ravenous wave of pokemon. Whether it was the fault of her hunger or the skill of the chefs, everything she swiped tasted amazing, even if it was a vegetable she didn't particularly care for. Everything meant to be crisp was refreshingly so, and even the soft foods still offered enough resistance to seem satisfying. 

With every bite her back muscles softened. The spirit of the festival slowly sunk into her chest where anxiety had once ruled. She felt her heart slow to the beat of the music, and the radiating heat of the fire wrapped around her. It seemed Vallion was finally starting to soften up as well. The skepticism in his narrow pupils became a kind of neutrality, though he still tended to eat from tables that had less pokemon at them. There was no way this warm feeling would last. It would be until the end of the night at the latest, and even then something could easily go wrong. But for now, for this very moment, things seemed alright. 

When Panne made her way around the banquet, she was assaulted by the most wondrous of smells. She cursed the chefs under her breath as the seared meats came into view. Even if she could get by on veggies and nuts, her biology remained the same. Still, the Delphox turned cheek and stuck her nose high. The last thing she wanted was to change how Val thought of her, and there was no way of knowing how he would react. It'd be best just to leave all that business to the villagers and wildlings. 

However, it would be downright rude to turn down every gift that was offered to her. When it came to the wooden bowls of primitive wine, she felt a twinge of guilt follow the hesitation to accept it. The liquid seemed pitch-black in the glare of the fire, and smelled a kind of sickly sweet that sent a jolt through her nostrils. The Delphox would discover that the juice was made from Tanga berries, and that its pungent taste was extremely indicative of its fermentation. Once she got used to its bite, however, it became far too easy to wash down the food with. The generosity of the village seemed unending as her bowl was refilled. 

In the end, her gnawing worries melted away, and the meat tasted just as good as it smelled. Vallion had his own thoughts and interpretations, the same as she had her own cravings. The villagers prepared this food regardless of whether she chose to eat them or not. These teeth were sharp for tearing, and tear they did-- between swigs of wine and the occasional pang of apprehension. Her vision blurred at a distance, her body began to sway slightly when she stood still, and her stomach was filled with warmth and satisfaction. It had been so long since the Delphox last ate her most natural diet that she had almost forgotten what it tasted like. 

The others seemed to be enjoying themselves to the same caliber. Dedenne rode on the back of Jirachi and surveyed the heights above, dodging bickering birds and insects. Ampharos still stole the attention of a great number of pokemon, and Mawile had taken up one of his shoulders to act at his conscience. Volcarona ate and boasted, Altaria danced through the sky, and Kadabra lingered in the back with her arms crossed. Panne could even see Hydreigon drifting about the place and listening to the constant chatter of the feast. She took another bite of some smoked meat she picked up and relished the taste. It felt nice to have nothing on her mind for once. 

"You seem to be having a ball throwing your inhibitions to the wind," a melodic voice rang behind her. 

The Delphox shook her head and took a gulp of wine. "You know Mismagius, people don't greet each other by suddenly appearing behind them. It's kind of inconsiderate." 

"Pokemon tend to jump pretty high when a ghost materializes out of thin air. I think of it as a way of waking them up," he said before floating off and descending in front of her proper. "I'm surprised you're in a carnivorous mood. I imagined you to be the kind of person that ends up fasting themselves when they get stressed out." 

"What? I don't do that at all. Quit assuming stuff." Panne scraped the last of the tender flesh from the bone and tossed the rest back onto the plate. "You think a Delphox on the Sand Continent's going to have access to the same diet as me? Nope, they're going to fry someone up and eat 'em when they want dinner. And besides, these are basically gifts the village is giving to us. I'm not about to be high and mighty over a meal that was made for us." 

Mismagius hummed and tilted his head forward. "That's a whole lot of reasoning just to justify eating some meat. I was just curious is all." 

"Oh shut up. I know I just evolved yesterday, but what makes you think I'm not self-aware? Do I still look like a kid or something?" The ghost tilted his head. "I don't know, you can get carried away fairly quickly. It doesn't sound unreasonable that you might accidentally justify yourself a little too much." 

She huffed loudly and gestured him away. "You don't get to have an opinion, you already died once. Come back and call me immature when you've saved the world from hate itself." 

Mismagius paused, then gave a hearty chuckle. He circled around to where she pointed her nose. "Oh my goodness, you get so snappy when you've had a few drinks! You wouldn't happen to have a few choice words for anyone else, would you? I'd love to hear the kind of lashings this side of you can deal." 

"Go haunt someone else. I'm relaxing angrily over here," the Delphox said once she refilled her drinking bowl and wandered off in the opposite direction. Why did it have to be such a big deal that she ate a few pieces of meat? It's not like those pokemon were going to suddenly come back to life anytime soon. They were gone-- smoked, spiced, and cooked thoroughly through. Was he going to blame birds for flying, or fish for swimming? She sighed as the haze of sound and merriment obscured the complaints in her own mind. 

It was then that the music began to change. The instruments cut out one by one, with chords struck one last time until the vibrations faded. Different musicians were taking the places of the last, most of which were simply older and of higher evolution stages. Even their instruments seemed more antique despite this village being relatively new in the area. Sceptile nodded to the fresh ensemble, and they responded in turn with a quick strum and an experimental drum beat. When the next song finally begun, the difference in skill was like night and day, and the last musicians didn't even seem that bad. A practiced, almost ritualistic melody filled the air, less lively than the last but a little more deliberate. Some started to sing while others closed their eyes and began to dance in whatever ways their physiology allowed. With the food mostly gone and fermented juice in everyone's bellies, the crowd began to sway with the music. 

Panne glanced around and saw her friends join in as well. Volcarona's scaly embers spiraled through the air as she took off into the dance of the sky, which was already a swarm of flying bodies. The airborne pokemon swerved around one another in the firelight, a constantly-shifting flock of complicated maneuvers and dangerous turns. She could only stare and wonder how they all didn't just crash into one another. Looking back to earth, Mawile took the hint and started to drag Ampharos out of the inner crowd, and Dedenne paired up with an Emolga on an empty tabletop. Val and Kadabra were the only pokemon she couldn't seem to find, and this was obviously not something to be left alone. 

She wove through the crowd, dodging limbs and scanning the sea of movement for a familiar green. In just the time it took for her to make her way around the fire, several villagers approached her and offered up themselves as partners to dance with. She turned each down as they came, but there was a growing embarrassment in the pit of her stomach. Was it really that easy to notice her? If the worst scenario hadn't already happened, what if someone else already got to Vallion? Her steps quickened through the crowd, and she hardly even acknowledged the pokemon around her anymore. Only on the fringe of the fire's light did she finally catch sight of the Servine. Panne saw Kadabra as well, who was indeed in the process of getting way too close and personal. 

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Panne barged right in without a moment's hesitation. Kadabra immediately shot back and put her hands behind her own back, leaving Vallion to stumble in place. 

"Ah!" Kadabra yelped. "I was just- We were- Everyone else was starting to dance, and Vallion didn't look like he knew how to fit in, so I thought I'd at least show him how! You know, to make him a little less uncomfortable!" Had it been anyone else, maybe Panne would have believed it, but the psychic type fidgeted like she had just robbed a bank. 

Panne tried to raise an eyebrow, but felt her expression became a scowl. "Sure, that was what you were doing. There's plenty more fish in this sea, why don't you go find a few that aren't this one?" Guilty as she seemed, Kadabra gave one last awkward shrug and scurried off. The Delphox crossed her arms and muttered just loud enough for Val to hear. "Hmph. I should have known this would happen. It's just like trying to keep wildlings out of your stuff, I swear. I leave for a few minutes and she's already all over you. Now that's just shameless!" 

"You know she was actually trying to teach me how to dance, right?" Val said in a flat tone. 

"Yeah, that's the problem! Didn't you see the way her cheeks were flushed? Or how she kept looking down at the ground all flustered? There's no way that was an innocent gesture, not from Kadabra! She's just a scavenger who decided she was all about storybook heroes, but never was strong enough to go out and get her own." 

He huffed through his nose. "You're being cynical again." 

A stab of guilt managed to pierce the liquid armor in her veins. "I'm not being cynical, that's how it actually is! She's always been jealous. I'm sure she thought about how you probably wouldn't walk away now that you've lost your memories and got bold about it!" 

"Aren’t you the one who keeps going on about having a good time? What’s with you putting Kadabra down so hard? I don’t get what you’re trying to do." His gaze traveled away from her, out past the festival entirely and towards escape. 

The Delphox knelt down, and the gesture pulled his attention right back into place. “You know what? You’re right. But I’m not the only one who needs to lighten up, you know! Where do you think we are right now? We could be dancing and having a good time! Yeah, we should be dancing!” 

“Wha- Absolutely not! I am not going to dance!” he said, turning his nose to the sky. “How do you even intend on doing that, anyway? I don’t even have arms!” "I've danced with you plenty of times! Don't let that twig Kadabra fool you, it's a lot less awkward if you actually know what you're doing. I could teach you again if you wanted." She gave a nervous smile. In truth, she had no idea how to make it work anymore. As a Braixen they were at least close to the same size, but now she was almost a foot and a half taller than the Servine. 

Vallion looked down with bemusement at his lithe body. After another grueling few moments of indecision, he simply shrugged with his vines and glanced towards the fire. "I don't know. I'm curious, but maybe not so much that I'd want to do it here. There's too many people." 

At this point, it was fairly obvious what her old self would do. She allowed the words that bubbled up into her throat to emerge without any anxious scrutiny. "You can't just give up before you even started! There aren't any Vallions that I know of that'd get scared over a few eyes watching him. If you want to find something out, you just have to go for it!" Panne grabbed his sides and pulled him forward, relieved to even have the opportunity to get close. 

"H-hold on! I don't even know-" When he unfurled his vines to push her arms away, she grabbed them instead and waited for him to settle down. 

The music's heartbeat rippled through the air and filled her ears. Vallion stared at her like a trapped wildling, but she just stared back with a toothy grin. "You're never going to be able to relive this moment," she said. "Maybe you'll have another like it, but this night will always be the way you lived it. How much would your old self pay to relive a moment like this?" 

He blinked, then stubbornly trained his eyes on the ground. "Why do you gotta be so persistent?" 

"Shush, the music's picking up. Grab my arms and try to move with it." There was a slow reluctance as his vines spiraled around her wrists. When Panne closed her eyes, she realized that there was actually fear rumbling in her stomach. This couldn't be like the first time again, full of stumbling and laughter. Vallion already loved her then, he understood that there were no mistakes she could make that could ruin the moment. Things were different now. A rise in the pitch gave warning of the coming chorus, a nervous chuckle slipped out of her throat. "Try to keep your vines at a consistent length for now. We'll try that." 

Their first steps together were as clumsy as she feared they would be. He started to freeze in place while she tried to make the best of their lack of coordination. Panne tugged and pulled, trying hard to get him to move with the music. Her lanky new body refused to cooperate in the same way it used to, either, and her dress got in the way far more than it should have. If she were smaller, then perhaps it'd be easier to push against him and remind him to dance at all. "It's your turn, you doofus! Try a little harder than that!" 

An obvious crimson shade erupted beneath his scales despite the orange glow of the fire. He finally started to string her along with tugs of his vines, though it was hardly with the beat. She tried to play along as best she could, and something of a pattern eventually emerged. Even so, embarrassment was still holding him back more than just physiology. The Delphox suddenly dropped low and closed the distance between their snouts. Vallion gasped in surprise, but took on a perturbed look. "Stop that. I was trying to concentrate," he said. 

"No you weren't. You were thinking about how to get out of this. Here, I think I have an idea." Panne gave him a peck on the nose before standing tall again. She immediately transitioned into a spin with her arms above her head, causing her fur dress to fan out and the vines to twirl around themselves. The Servine was forced to spin in the opposite direction to untie himself. "Yeah, see? That's almost kind of a dance, isn't it? Don't you think you could make something out of that?" 

Gradually, incredibly gradually, Vallion let his muscles soften up. While she still had to lead a great deal, sometimes he'd find an opportunity to move on his own. If she had to describe it, it was like he finally stopped trying to move like a human and started to move with the serpentine body he had been given. At one point he tried a little too hard and released his vines at just the right time for her to fall backwards. Before he could reach out to grab her once more, Panne unintentionally used telekinesis on the Ludicolo behind her and bounced off them like a wall. The pokemon was rightfully angry and stormed off soon after, but her and Vallion couldn't help but giggle about it. 

Admittedly, their dance was horrible anyway. Often times they allowed themselves to go out of sync, and the differences between them physically were far too difficult to overcome with several bowls of wine already in her belly. Still, all that really mattered was that Val seemed like he was having fun. But it didn't have to stop here, oh no. He didn't remember what their dance was like at its zenith. The Delphox, her breathing heavy and her legs heavier, paused and knelt down to eye-height again. "Hey, do you trust me?" 

He seemed taken aback by the question. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Are you still curious enough to find out what we used to look like when we danced?" Panne asked as a bubble of anticipation welled up at the base of her throat. He gave a singular, cautious nod in response. She smiled in return, though still very uncertain. "Try not to freak out, okay? I know how to do this." 

The Delphox stood up fully and shook the vines away from her wrists. After as deep a breath as she could take, a powerful warmth began to gestate in her lungs and radiated back up into her throat. She spread her fingers to the air and willed the heat to pulse, and from her claws came little red embers that the wind quickly caught. The wisps were like candles without wicks or wax, and grew larger with an exhalation. She didn't let on her own surprise at how huge they were compared to last time, and it was so easy to fight the wind now. Panne surrounded herself with the blinking lights and extended her wrists again for the Servine to hold. 

Vallion didn't seem to know how to start the dance again, as the first few moments were more awkward and rigid than any other point in the song. Val just looked up nervously at the embers, a little bit of his earlier self peeking out. Crimson streaks followed the movements of the tiny flames with the first of their steps. Panne bit her tongue trying to get the motions just right, but the results still felt too uncanny. "Quit staring, they're not going to hurt you," she said. "Now help me out and do what you were doing before. I can't do this if I have to actually focus on it." 

He winced slightly when the embers came close, but gasped when he realized that they gave off no heat. The lights were like extensions of her hands, little fingertips waving with the music. As Panne herself circled the Servine, they moved in the opposite direction around him like shooting stars. Whenever she knelt lower and brought their faces close, the lights flickered brightly as if mimicking the way her heart fluttered. The concentration required to maintain the show was only a slight tug at the back of her mind, and it got easier to control by the moment-- more than it ever had been before. 

The crowd was growing curious. So many had already broke out of their dances to gawk at the glittering show of scarlet lights that surrounded the pair. Panne's eyes narrowed at her lover, and the sparks swirled around him like curious insects. He tried to match her pyrokinesis by kicking up the leaves on his tail and making short gusts for them to ride on. The Delphox humored him and combined all the wisps into a single streak so that it could weave through the leaves like the teasing of the flying types above. What was once supposed to be an awkward but intimate dance became something a game. Though a sudden, unprecedented twinge of sadness flared up within her, the smile on the Servine's face quickly made her forget. 

The heat coincided with the fatigue. Everyone was cheering, friend and villager alike. Vallion didn't even seem to notice them anymore. The flames snaked through the air as lively as ever, and its brightness even rivaled the bonfire in the center of it all. Despite all this, even as she swiveled and twisted and danced beside her lover, the corners of her mouth grew heavy. Her wisp zipped through the air like a bolt of lightning. No, it was dodging-- weaving in and out, trying to get away from something. Panne looked away for a single second and the fire was back under her control. 

Just as soon as she realized something was off, her mind lost its grip and the flame spiraled on its own once more. Crimson light glinted off Vallion's eyes as it drew near. She sucked in a gasp, but the wisp didn't crash into him like she expected. It simply flew by his face and continued to twirl in the air, yet something clicked when the shadows passed back over. A terrified expression took the place of his joy, with his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth pursed as if he was braced to be swallowed up by water. The most striking part was how different he looked, like it was a completely different Servine in the first place. When the light passed over him again, he only seemed slightly confused and was plenty animate once more. Panne's own surprise interrupted the rhythm of the warmth in her throat and caused the wisps to dissipate entirely. 

Though the music continued, it felt as though the pause was absolute. Vallion asked if she was alright, but something made him sound far away, and the alcohol in her system grew sour in an instant. The Delphox clutched at her stomach and gave a meek apology at the end of a breath before rushing off through the gawking onlookers. She ran into the first dense thicket she could see and crashed right through. As soon as the instruments began to fade over the distance, she doubled over somewhere in the darkness and began to heave. 

"What the hell?" she gasped, then lost her breath to another surge of nausea. The wisp's light was still burned into her eyes, and the imagery into the back of her mind. Whatever just happened, it drained her so much that the natural exhaustion of dancing made it seem like a marathon had just been run. Her heart was about to explode out of her chest. Panne swallowed, then felt around for a tree to pull herself up. Was Vallion okay? He had to be okay, right? Nothing was supposed to hurt him while she was around. His tail-- that was an accident, but she was stronger now. A sudden urge to scream filled her lungs, but she barely had any breath to spare in the first place. 

There was rustling behind her, the sounds of her worried friends coming to investigate. The Delphox didn't even flinch when Altaria came down through the canopy, shouting at the top of her lungs. "What happened!? Panne, are you alright? Do you need some water?" 

As some of the slower members of Society came running through the brush, she pushed out a slow response, "I'm- ah.. Val's okay, right? It's too hard to see." 

"I'm right here," the Servine said, but there was no urgency in his voice. The vision was only just that. 

A chill seized her spine for a moment, but passed when she started to focus on the warm summer air. "Hah... That's pretty great. You know, I thought I was doing pretty well back there. They're usually not that bright." 

"Oh sweetie, you sound like you're about to pass out!" Altaria's plush wing pressed against her back. Though it was far too much attention, Panne didn't really have the heart to refuse it. She just needed a moment to catch her breath and process what the fire had shown her. Just a few minutes to herself was all she needed, and maybe one more bowl of Tanga wine to soothe the ache. 

A deep, rumbling hum came from above her-- Hydreigon. "She is drained, I'm sure. The art of clairvoyance takes a great toll from those who are new to it. Most Delphox covens ease their newly-evolved into the task, Panne seems to have crashed her galleon into it at full speed." They spoke down to her, as condescending and innocent as ever. "You should be careful with that new power of yours. It's not a simple flame that you're conjuring, there are properties at work that you haven't really had a chance to master yet." 

"So she's just tired, then?" said Altaria, who was still fussing with the Delphox even now. 

Hydreigon nodded. "Tired and intoxicated, most likely." 

Panne insisted that this was true, the panic was more or less over. Some of her friends sighed and relief and started back towards the festival, where they surely had something waiting for them. Altaria took an especially long time to be reassured, unfortunately far longer than Vallion did-- but she was eventually convinced when Panne pushed to a stand on her own. Before Hydreigon could disappear into the night however, she grabbed ahold of their tail and silently ushered them back down to earth while everyone else abandoned the thicket. They murmured inquisitively, but she waited a few moments for the coast to be clear. 

"You," she whispered just above the din of the drums. "I was seeing into the future?" 

"Well I've seen Delphox do it before, so I know what the process looks like. Though typically you need several scrying at one time to get an accurate answer." 

She inhaled through her nose-- of course Hydeigon knew. What was there that they didn't know? Vallion was in trouble, or at least was going to be, and the Spiritomb wasn't the only thing she had to worry about causing it. "Did you catch what I saw?" 

They shrugged. "Somewhat. If I were one of your species, perhaps, but I've never really had the desire to change. I... imagine it wasn't good, judging from your reaction?" 

"Did you tell anyone about the Spiritomb's rampage?" her volume rose further. 

The dragon shook their head. "No, I haven't had the chance-" 

"Good," she cut in with a breathy voice. "Then we'll keep it that way. I don't need Val getting all righteous again, especially now. The others would just tell him, too. If we already fought with the Spiritomb and won, we know how tough it got from getting all those souls, so there's no real reason to tell anyone else." 

Hydreigon gave a grunt of disapproval. "What is it with you lot and your secrets? Would it not be easier to just speak frankly with the pokemon around you? There would be much less betrayal in the world if everyone simply had good reason to trust each other." 

A bubble of frustration burst open. "Oh come the hell on. You're basically the least trustworthy person of all of us! I'd much rather have Kadabra standing next to Vallion while he's alone than you. And don't even pretend that stuffy head of yours isn't carrying around enough secrets to fill a library! You can't be a know-it-all about basically everything that's ever happened and not keep stuff from everyone. I bet you've already been holding back!" 

"The secrets I keep aren't helpful to anyone. There is nothing to gain from knowing them." All three heads leaned in closer. "If what you envisioned involves me, I assure you that my intentions have always been for the better. The threads of fate can still be wound in different ways, and you only had a brief, untrained glimpse of them. You can trust me." 

"But what do you care? If you're really this ancient breath of life or whatever, why are you even here? What does any of this matter to you?" her words were starting to slur, but she just carried on with the tangent. 

"Vallion saved the world, and excised the darkness from the Tree of Life. As did you. Do I have a reason not to help?" 

The Delphox sucked in a breath. "Well I don't know. How am I supposed to know even half of what you're about? You're the only thing we know of that can get Vallion's memories back, and I'm not even one-hundred percent about that! I've known about plenty of Hydreigon in the past that acted all cooperative up until the very end. Sure, you're not actually a Hydreigon, whatever. It doesn't mean you don't have the capacity to screw us over at the last second anyway!" 

"...Hm? You seem to know my intentions more than I do. For having something to hide, it's not clever to assume I already know about it." Even in the dull light, Panne mirrored the condescending look Hydreigon shot her. "Why would I even think to hurt a human of all things? Again, you lot and secrets. Honestly, Mew didn't have the capacity to keep a secret for more than ten minutes, much less however many you've been stewing on." 

"Well I'm not Mew! And Vallion isn't that human! But go ahead, call me worse than Mew a bit more! Maybe you'll run out of time to manipulate Val if you do! It's your fault he hasn't been the same since the boat, isn't it? He was getting better! He was almost happy, and you brought him down again! Now he's just going to get suicidal again!" Her shoulders were starting to shake from all the adrenaline. It was unbearable having to stand in front of this dragon and not just blow fire into their smug face. "And you know what? I can't figure out why you're so obsessed with Alexander when he was just a terrible person! Do you even know what he did? He stole a kid from their parents and held them hostage! What kind of hero does that?!" 

She saw the dragon's lips purse, and a wave of triumph rushed from the tips of her ears right down her toes. "...Obsessed? Yes, I am aware of what he did, and what he was trying to achieve, but you’re just trailing off on random things. Had I been there, maybe I would have been able to convince him to take a different path... I assume Vallion was the human that crossed him, then?" 

"If you even think about so much as playing a trick on him, I'll kill you," she snarled, blowing a puff of smoke through her teeth. 

A tired chuckle spilled from their mouth, then there was silence. The dragon backed away a few feet before they spoke again. "Perhaps you're still closer to Mew than I originally thought. Ah, this makes a whole lot more sense now. I've had that thought in the back of my mind for a while now, but never really found the place to bring it up. I suppose that Fennekin he caught must have been you, correct? I had heard as much that there were two pokemon." 

"Shut up!" A strange cocktail of regret and anger filled her bloodstream, but she wasn't about to back down after all this. "You keep away from him until your job is done!" 

"I thought you wanted me to stay close and protect him? Or were you afraid I wanted revenge for what happened with Alexander? You could have cleared this up with me so much earlier, I thought you were just being pompous and stubborn." They shook their center head. "No, I don't blame Vallion for what happened. No, I'm not just pretending to help so that I can get close to him and turn him against you. I am honestly going to return him to the way he was before. There are no ulterior motives." 

Panne hated how agreeable they sounded. She hated how they bargained and pleaded, because now her steam was quickly running out. There needed to be an enemy besides the Spiritomb, one responsible for the way Vallion had been acting-- but Hydreigon refused to be it. But they could still be lying, though! "I- Just remember what I said! If you aren't serious about that promise, I'll shove fire down your throat until you burst!" The Delphox turned tail and stormed off deeper into the dark woods. Every snag that caught on her dress was torn from the bush it came from, and each branch that dared to smack her was snapped in half. She tried to force herself back into that golden feeling when she saw Val start to smile again, but it just wouldn't come. The night was over, and the sleep wasn't going to help.


	17. The Expedition

The halls of the destitute Society were wrecked beyond repair. The storm outside poured through gashes in the brickwork, leaving the porous rubble glistening with rain. Much of the layers of paint covering the walls had already peeled away, and the patches that did remain were discolored from exposure. The subtle stench of black mold enveloped the surroundings. Panne hesitated to take another step inside as she fully absorbed the scene around her. She wondered if perhaps it would be better if she didn’t try to see what was waiting for her at the end of the ruins. 

The Delphox cast a flame near one of the many holes penetrating the outside wall, illuminating the space around her fingers. In spite of the light source it seemed that the blackness that surrounded the compound was impenetrable. Panne did her best to ignore the fluttering in her heart and reached through a gap with her free hand, her light now flickering in the violent wind. She braced herself for danger, but all she could feel was the gale whipping at Vallion’s Harmony Scarf. After a few long moments she sighed and pulled her hand away from the windy current. If this was the work of the Spiritomb then it must be slacking- the atmosphere around her felt sad more than it did horrifying. 

"What's wrong?" she called out through the stale air, casually brushing away at the rain on her arm. "You're not really trying at all, are you? Did I beat you down too roughly the last time we met?" 

No response came to her taunts. It had been a quite some time since Panne had felt as utterly alone as she did now. She glared at the shadows and cast off of her flame as she started down what used to be the Society’s living quarters. Rotten wood planks that looked like they had fallen from the ceiling countless years ago crumbled beneath her footsteps. The storm echoed over the creaking of the woodwork as it battered the building’s roof with all of its strength. Panne wondered if at any moment the whole structure could give in and come crashing down on her head. For now, the walls still endured the abuse. 

The remains of Panne's and Vallion's room came into view, though much of the damage was hidden by the tattered fabric hanging across the doorway. She tore away what was left of the ruined curtain and cast up a new flame, her tight-lipped and withdrawn expression slowly furrowing into a frown as she examined the area. Her collection of papers and priceless mementos- even the grand constellation pinned to the ceiling- had tattered and blackened with age. Ruined scrolls, wet books, broken glass and shredded cloth were strewn about the room like someone tried to loot the place but gave up halfway through the attempt. Something crumbled under her footsteps as she carefully worked her way through, leaving an anxiety-driven lump forming at the base of her throat. 

It took little effort to rummage to the bottom of her trunk- most of its original contents were already scattered around the room to begin with. Panne glared at an empty spot where she normally kept the little trinkets Vallion used to give her. "Ah," she muttered, "I guess you wouldn’t know about those, hmm? I'm not even sure Val knew they were down there." She wiped her hand on the fur of her dress and stepped back into the drafty hall. Her heart felt like it might just teeter over the edge of despair, but she forced herself to remember that this was all just an illusion designed to crush her spirit. 

Panne's ears twisted towards the center of the compound as a few broken syllables of a distance voice echoed and died around her. She instantly recognized it as belonging to Vallion, unmistakably calling out to her from somewhere far away. Her mind realized it had to be a trick- that much was obvious- but the sheer urgency in the noise made her curious nonetheless. Vallion's memories were in the Spiritomb somewhere, right? What if he was trying to break through somehow? What if Val really was in here with her? It was such an obvious trap, it had to be! But... that little glimmer of hope that it could still be her lover both emboldened and terrified her. Swearing under her breath, she enveloped her other hand in a matching flame and marched towards the central chamber. 

The tile floor in the large hall was cracked and covered in a thick layer of dust. Huge pools of water formed beneath the broken skylights, seeping through the cracks and sinking into exposed patches of dirt. Panne was certain that the noise had come from this direction, but as she approached her surroundings looked just as lifeless as everywhere else. 

"Val? Hey! Are you there?!" Panne shouted, but was only met with a cold echo. She closed her eyes, releasing the flames that surrounded her hands. Above her the patter of the rainstorm continued to beat on the worn roof.. "Are you trying to show me what you're going to do? Is this some kind of threat?" A loud, hollow thud rang out from even deeper in the compound. The Delphox twisted around with a yelp and summoned a burst of flame, but the meeting hall looked exactly the same as she left it. She held her crimson fire as far ahead as her arm could stretch and shot a wary glare at each corner of the ruins. There was something so degrading about this, so infuriating! Why did it have to continue to torture her, crushing her hopes and leaving her to stumble around in dreamscapes like a blind idiot? What the hell was even the point of all this? Panne wanted to scream, but her voice froze in her throat when she saw something other than just rubble sticking out of the pool- a half-submerged emerald mass that stuck out from the rest and glistened with a uniform pattern. Familiar wet scales. 

“No!” Panne began to sprint towards the second floor. Without warning her legs suddenly became too weak to run properly, and her lungs felt desperately out of breath. A jolt of pain in her chest halted her halfway up the stairs. A terrible feeling of dread nearly overwhelmed her, both pain and fear radiating throughout her body. Chunks of her fur began to shrivel and fall off around her, the patches of skin that remained flaking and decaying before her eyes. Then a white-hot pain touched her insides and it felt as though her guts had liquefying inside her ribcage. As she began to lose consciousness entirely she could briefly make out the sound of light, tapping footsteps approaching from behind. Tears streamed down her face as her world was absorbed in the darkness. 

"YOU." 

 

The waking world exploded into existence, then a splitting headache quickly followed. Panne awkwardly clutched her sides as the rest of her body slowly began to wake up. Hours of pent up nausea rose to the surface of her stomach all at once; and she had a split second to attempt to adjust herself before she violently retched out a stream of vomit. With every wheezing breath her migraine tore into her focus. As she gradually began to recuperate her blurry eyes slowly adjusted to the dim early morning light that filtered into the hut. 

Panne dragged herself upwards and slowly trudged to the exit, barely resisting another fit of heaving. The village's center looked like a tornado had torn through it, not unlike the turbulent emotions in her heart. The sky had abandoned a summer blue for a melancholy grey, and the unexpected rise in air pressure forecasted a coming storm while leaving her further disoriented. She glanced towards the ocean and froze as visions of the great black cloud teased at the corners of her mind. With a scoff she dismissed the omen, but her heartbeat quickened in spite of her defiance. She had already exhausted her litany of insults on the Spiritomb, so now her fuming silence would have to keep her satisfied. 

"Ready to leave so soon?" a shrill voice asked beside her. The Staraptor that usually trailed behind the Sceptile sat alone atop one of the higher perches, his sharp eyes glinting in the dim light. He jumped to a perch closer to the Delphox, displaying a wingspan nearly as wide as the length of her body. "These festivals always cause such a mess. Sceptile is far too prepared to call on them at a moment's notice, don't you think?" 

Panne felt like something was off about the question, like there was more to it if she read between the lines. The Delphox simply shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't been around here long enough to get a grip on that kind of thing. What, is there something I’m supposed to be seeing, erm, D-..?" 

"Dalo." He studied her further. "No, it's just an observation. Are you unwell? You're clutching your stomach." 

"I- I had too much to drink last night," Panne said and looked away. It wasn't technically a lie, yet it was hardly the only thing that was bothering her. The air outside was fairly mild, but the supernatural chill within left her a shivering mess. 

The Staraptor tilted his head sharply to the side, then changed the subject once again. "This weather, didn't you warn about a storm coming with the creature that follows you? This is very unlike summer.” 

Panne swallowed to maintain her composure, but the small talk was beginning to wear on her patience.. "Did you really come down here just to chat about the weather?" 

"I came out here to see the Society off, but it seems last night ran on for a bit too long. Now I'm out here to talk to you, though it doesn't seem like you're not in a particularly talkative mood." He preened himself for a moment as if to break apart the conversation, but shot her a piercing glare as soon as he looked back up. "I've seen your kind- always keen on trying to meddle with things they cannot control. Perhaps you could learn to simply leave well enough alone." 

The Delphox steadied her breath before responding. "What, do you have something against explorers? We haven't done anything to you. There's hardly any adventurers in these parts of Grass Continent anyways, so why would you even think that way?" 

Dalo glared daggers at her for a few moments, as if Panne had unwittingly spoken some blasphemy. "You… You are meddlers! We celebrate and idolize you, and for what? So that you can stir up enough trouble to ruin another piece of our history? What makes you any different?! My father was right about you people!" he screeched, and quickly fell into an uncontrollable fit of coughs and hisses. Panne recoiled from the grating noise, but raised an eyebrow at the outburst nonetheless.The Staraptor threw his wings back and shook out his feathers as he recomposed himself. With a huff and a mighty flap he flew off, not giving so much as a farewell. 

Panne quickly lost sight of the flying type behind the trees. She squinted at the churning clouds on the horizon and gave a huff. No matter what the Spiritomb did, or how powerful it got off the souls of the innocent, the signs of its influence on the environment were as unmistakable as they ever had been. Soon this whole stretch of jungle was going to be affected by the monster’s sickening decay yet a tiny voice in her mind wondered if she had contributed to the disaster by insisting the Society come here in the first place. The Society could have spent the extra time landing the ship somewhere away from civilization, but by single-mindedly taking the most direct route possible, she had doomed this place to a fate like all the others. A chilling gust of wind suddenly whistled past her ear as if the land itself agreed with her sentiment. 

Careful not to upset still fragile stomach, Panne started back towards the hut where everyone else still slept. She couldn’t help but wonder- would the old Panne have kept on moving ahead despite all this? Or would she have wanted to stay here to try and minimize the damage the Spiritomb had caused? No, staying would just end up making things worse for everybody. It was time to go. 

 

The departure of the Society left the village feeling like a ghost town. Sceptile stood at the front of the small group who came to see the Society off with Dalo at his back. The formality was brief and begrudging. Her friends had gathered their things in relative silence minutes before, most hunched over from the unavoidably restless sleep. Panne withheld herself from the awkward goodbyes and pulled a cowl out from the bottom of her bag, fastening the clasp beneath her chin. This was one of the dreariest expeditions in the history of the entire organization. 

All it took was the quick flash of Ampharos’ compass and the Society was off. The Pokemon who could fly were soon navigating over the canopy while the rest unceremoniously trudged straight into the jungle. The wind whipped at their backs in spite of the wall of trees they had passed through. Panne shot a glance upward at the shadow of the Hydreigon. The bitter sting of feeling powerless washed over her and made her steps feel heavier than usual. It didn't seem to matter how many times she puffed out her chest and acted brave, she just couldn't be the barrier that protected Vallion from danger. Both Hydreigon and Spiritomb could easily manipulate him for their own ends. Her ears folded back beneath her hood as she wondered just how much worse things could become. 

Panne sniffed as a droplet of rain landed right on her snout-- the first of many to come. The weather was colder than it had any right to be this deep into summer, even more frigid than when the storm raged over the Viridian. Lashes of thunder drove the Society to continue their march forward with an appropriate sense of urgency. 

Altaria flew down to report to her fellow explorers on the ground below her. The storm was already over the valley they were meant to cross by this afternoon, and would likely get worse by the time they made it there. Panne clutched her head with one hand and kept the other close to her chest, the sting of wet rain on her Fire-type body distracting her from her churning insides. She frowned at the single minded determination in Vallion’s expression as they travelled onwards, missing his joyful curiosity from back in the city. 

This moment felt to Panne like an opportune time for another attempt at bonding with her lover. She closed the distance between them, and hesitated a moment longer before building up the courage to speak. "Hey,” she greeted softly. 

Valion calmly blinked as droplets of rain streaked across his blank expression. When he glanced back at her, it was like she was just another part of the scenery. “Hm?” he murmured disinterestedly. 

Not a particularly promising start, Panne thought gloomily. "You know, for being new to that body again, you got used to dancing a lot more quickly than I expected. I was still tripping all over by the time you got a hang of it- I suppose that much hasn’t changed even after my evolution." She masked the hollow feeling in her heart with a persistent smile. 

"We were pretty terrible. People only cared when you started using your fire. I don't think it was worth bothering with." He evasively ducked behind a sapling, creating a divide between them. 

Panne felt a jab of disappointment at the comment but attempted to maintain her composure. "Oh come on, Vallion, you can’t just say that. You were smiling and laughing and everything," she said with a twinge of desperation. She closed the distance between them as much as she was able, but the Servine continued walking in silence. "What happened to you? Why have you been so... depressed lately? You know we’d all do anything to help you, right?” Vallion continued to not respond, now seemingly refusing to acknowledge her presence entirely. “Please, just tell me what’s wrong, Vallion…” she pleaded, to no avail. “Will you at least talk to me?” Tears welled up in her eyes. 

"Stop yelling at me," Vallion muttered irritatedly, refusing to even look at her. 

The rejection felt like a punch in the gut, but Panne had felt so much pain on her journey that it no longer deterred her. None of it made any difference now. "Vallion, if I’m the problem, then please just tell me- I can change whatever it is you don't like!” 

"You're not doing anything wrong," the Servine replied stonily before he sped off ahead of Panne in the dense brush, leaving her sniffling in the back of the group. He was still in sight, but she doubted she could easily catch up to him through the thick jungle. She wondered if the glimpse into the future that the red fire had showed her last night had some clue to it in Val’s behavior that she still failed to understand. 

Panne’s friends gave the Delphox sympathetic expressions, but this only made her instinctively want to spitefully lash out at them. She silently remind herself that Vallion’s depression wasn’t their fault. 

Volcarona flew down from above the trees to report that the valley they had to cross was just ahead. Panne shuddered as she realized how many miles the Society had yet to walk before they reached their destination on the other side. A few hushed conversations were whispered among the party but Panne was in no mood to join in. Through the grinding hours of gloomy silence, Delphox’s heart pounded with the rhythm of the rain. 

 

The clouds might have masked the evening sunset entirely, but Panne knew from her stiff muscles that the day was almost done. The rain battered against her cowl and positively soaked her fur dress. The Delphox had somehow managed to climb out of the final incline of the valley without cramping up, but fatigue was starting to catch up with her. 

Finding a place to set up camp was a matter of compromise with flat ground being as scarce as it was. It took another twenty minutes for the matter to finally be settled. "This spot looks good," Ampharos shouted cheerily so that everyone searching the area could hear. The clearing he had chosen was more rock than it was dirt, but after all that time spent with no better luck, she was just happy progress was being made. 

Once everyone had gathered up after the search, it came time for the final effort of the day. Setting up camp was so ingrained into their muscle memory that it hardly took much conscious thought anymore. With the exception of Vallion and Kadabra, who both lacked field experience, not a single order needed to be given. Panne tried her best to help the Servine along with his tasks, but he brushed her away and fumbled around on his own for longer than was necessary. 

Everyone carried at least one piece of the tent in their bags, even if it was just a tiny part only useful for a single purpose. Metal supports and rings, a heavy-threaded fabric, poles that extended and locked into place-- they all came together to make up one of the most specialized sets of equipment the Society owned. The sheer number of metalsmiths and tailors they had to go through to complete it was excruciating, but the result was well worth it. 

After all the final pikes and knots were secured, everyone piled inside the huge tent. A lantern was lit and hung from the center support, its soft yellow light a warm replacement for the endless amounts of grey that filled the sky. Wind battered uselessly against the side of their shelter. The Society spent the next few minutes simply trying to get comfortable and dry themselves off. The air felt easier to breathe inside the tent, though it might have had something to do with Hydreigon burning some of the sage they had collected on the way here. 

Once some semblance of comfort had been achieved, the Society piled into the center of the tent for debriefing. Altaria hummed a quiet tune while Mawile pulled out her Expedition Gadget. Dedenne tuned it to the right frequency a brief moment later, and silence followed as the call went out. After a brief few moments of peace, shouting erupted from the device 

"There you guys are!" Floatzel's voice buzzed throughout the tent. "Why didn't any of you try to call me last night? Seriously, this is the kind of time where reports are important! I didn't become chief so that you could keep ignoring me!" 

"You're chief-in-learning," Mismagius added, a soft chuckle following the remark. 

Ampharos shook his head. "No, he's right. We had plenty of time, there was no reason for us to forget. That was a mistake on my part." The electric type glanced down at Floatzel's image in the orb. "We all successfully met up yesterday, recuperated over the night, and we’ve just spent the entirety of today just traveling through the northern jungles. At the rate we're going, should we outpace the worst of the storm, we'll reach our destination in a few days. Speaking of which, the Spiritomb hasn't let up in its chase yet. There were plenty of wildlings while the sky was clear, but now that it's caught up, even the deep jungle floor seems empty. We passed through the outer territories of a mystery dungeon on the way here and it was as desolate as a desert." 

"Hm. That's... unnerving. You're on the Grass Continent, right? Normally you can't walk five minutes without something getting offended that you exist. Jeez, I kinda wish I could be out there with all you guys. I've just been sitting here doing paperwork and waiting. I can’t really do anything else to prep for my ocean expedition, either, so that's just idle for now. Whatever." He shrugged the topic off before it could linger. "Is Vallion still alright?" 

"I'm fine," the Servine spoke up reflexively. 

Dedenne sighed. "We're wet and miserable, but at least nothing's tried to attack us at any point today. I thought that mystery dungeon was going to be a pain to be honest." 

"You ride on Ampharos' shoulder every time it's convenient, so I can't imagine it's all that tough for you," Mawile spoke up, not trying to hide the accusation in her voice. 

"Well I can't see over the brush! You want me to get lost or something?" Dedenne immediately replied with the same vitriol. 

"I'm just saying there's no way you're as tired as the rest of us." 

Panne finally shook free of the neutral mindset of travel, a cold chill running down her spine. "Hey! Don't you guys start something like this! The Spiritomb can get into your head, remember? If you guys start a fight, you're both sleeping out in the rain!" 

"Woah! Hold on, everybody hold on! Stop shaking the gadget for a second!" the Connection Orb vibrated with Floatzel's shouts. He pressed the side of his head to his gadget, glared straight at Panne, then pulled away with a cough. "No way. Is that seriously Panne with you guys? When did this happen? Why do none of you care to tell me about what's going on?!" 

In the background of the projection, another voice spoke up. Archeops rushed into view on the other side. "What? What's going on? Is Panne okay?" 

Oh? Oh, right! The Delphox leaned over Kadabra to get closer to the orb, a smug feeling taking the place of her anxiety. "Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise when I got back. I was going to stand two feet over you and just wait for you to realize it was me." 

"I'm not even short! What are you talking about?" Floatzel hogged as much of the orb as possible despite Archeops trying to peek out from behind him. "That hardly even matters, anyway! Evolution makes people taller, so what? It's not like you got any smarter just because your head got bigger, otherwise you would have thought of a better insult." 

"Actually, I did get better at telekinesis because of it. I could probably take you on pretty easily now, you know. Just gotta lift you in the air and toss you around. What would you even be able to do about that, huh?" A refreshing surge of emotion filled her chest as she smirked at the water type's confounded expression. 

In return, Floatzel scoffed. "Oh whatever. Talk all you want, it's not going to do anything to shrink those enormous ears. How can you even walk around upright with those things?" 

"You're both sleeping in the rain!" Dedenne shouted above them both, and for a short while, nobody really noticed the unending patter of raindrops. When Vallion turned his head to hide a smile of his own, it felt like a great weight had just been lifted off of Panne’s shoulders. Just seeing him lighten up for a mere moment was reassuring enough. She had almost forgotten why they were all here, and what they had set out to do in the first place. By the end of the week, Vallion was going to be better again. He was going to laugh and smile again. He was going to recognize her when they locked eyes, and then he'd close the distance between them... 

The debriefing was short, but more important than to Panne anyone could know. Rations came out after the gadget had been stowed, and the growl of their stomachs didn't discriminate against travel biscuits and dried fruit. Conversations trickled in between bites of food, mostly minor complaints or the usual banter. There was a topic that ended up catching her ear, however. If she hadn't been so wary of Hydreigon, it might have just passed out the other side of her head. The Delphox swallowed what remained in her mouth to listen. 

"I just think it's interesting that a creature like this could have such a solid goal after having spent so much time imprisoned in darkness. It must have been listening quite closely," Hydreigon said to Mawile. "I wonder if it has something to do with the calamity Dark Matter nearly caused. You'd have to be comatose to let something like that slip by without notice. I’m sure it must have caught wind of Vallion somewhere along the line, being so close to Revelation Mountain and all. The way it fixated on him while still swimming in its own madness is just so intriguing." 

Mawile shrugged. "What does a human soul earn it after all this effort, though? It's gone through so much trouble just to get at him, and every time it’s tried we’ve only gotten even more defensive. Vallion isn't the only human alive right now, why doesn't it just go after another? It's not like it isn't in the perfect form to eavesdrop and investigate." 

The Hydreigon tapped his central head with the snout of the left. "It wants a human soul for power, but not the kind of power that makes fire hotter. ‘A human will save us from disaster’- such a theme is ingrained into the very fabric of our world. That's how it's always been, and nature itself has yet to question it. The abomination has the sense to know that the only part it could possibly play in this story is the disaster. However, a question still stands. If it consumes the essence of a human, will the universe think it a human, or a monster? I'm not so sure myself, it's not something that’s ever really been tried. 

"As for the fixation on Vallion, I suppose it's just because the abomination integrated his memories into itself. That seems simple enough." The dragon shrugged, then downed a whole biscuit in a single gulp as if eating normally was too much of a distraction. "It'll be easier to lure the creature into a choke point because of that, somewhere we'll be able to trap it properly. I could definitely whip up some nasty tricks that would help in that, as well." 

In an instant, Panne pushed her way into the conversation. "What kind of tricks?" Her eyes narrowed at their diction. 

Hydreigon seemed surprised at first, but their face lit up at the chance to explain something complicated. "The stretch of mystery dungeon where Vallion's human body is buried is potent enough to grow some fairly rare reagents. The dust of an Awakening emera is very important if you want to synthesize anything of value. I'm sure all of you have had your fair share of smashing less-useful emeras and scrounging up the pieces for later, but have you ever tried to create other kinds of treasures?" 

"Of course we have," Mawile answered. "We never really made much progress, though. Remaking emeras is still a roll of the dice, and we've already tried and failed to make our own wands. The only things we can reliably manufacture are looplets, scarves, and orbs-- for the more specialized stuff, I mean. We grow seeds all the time, we've got a garden in the courtyard where we breed reviver seeds." 

The dragon hummed as they leaned in. "Well it's not easy, there aren't many pokemon alive that know how to make something like dungeon orbs. But after seeing those gadgets and that big terminal you’ve set up in your building, I should have assumed you had as much experience. That's possibly one of the most advanced systems I've ever seen using just those orbs, and I've been around the globe once or twice during the last golden age." 

"Is someone talking about my Nexus?" Jirachi flew overhead, right on cue. "It and the gadgets are my pride and joy! Just that information hub was way more complicated than anything I've ever built before, and it took so long for me to tune it, too! A hundred disasters could sweep over that place and the Nexus'll still be standing strong! Lightning, fire, plasma storm, earthquake, tsunami-" 

"Put a battery charge meter on the gadgets!" Volcarona shouted from across the tent. 

The chatter trailed off again, but Panne's suspicion wasn't so easily shaken. She scooted closer to the Hydreigon and repeated herself, unable to disguise the coldness in her voice. "What kind of tricks?" 

In turn, the dragon gave her an innocent blink. "I was going to say that we would use an artificial orb to trap it, but the conversation got away from me. There's a way to essentially create a temporary zone kind of like a mystery dungeon, trapping anything inside and keeping anything else out. The barrier itself isn't solid, but it's essentially like trying to walk through a portal which exits the same way you enter. It works in the same way that orbs spread their effects across large areas, but since it doesn't crystallize in nature like others might, I have to synthesize it myself... Why are you glaring at me like that?" 

An impenetrable arena, is that what they were proposing? Who's to say they aren't planning to trap only themselves and Vallion inside of one? "I just have a bit of a headache still, that's all," Panne finally replied. 

"You still don't trust me, do you? Not even after last night." 

The Delphox exhaled through her nose. "I want what's best for Val. I want to make sure what's best for Val doesn't conveniently change at any point before he gets his memories back." 

"Look. The sooner you realize that I bear no ill-will towards him, the sooner we'll be able to work together effectively. I could give you a million reasons to trust me, but the number hardly matters with someone as stubborn as you. You need to think harder about what's really best for Vallion." With that, the dragon yawned and curled up into a ball, apparently tired of both the day and the social activity. Mawile raised an eyebrow to the whole thing, but buried herself into her field journal without another word. 

Panne laid back and forced herself to forget about the bitter exchange. When it came time for the light to go out, she crawled her way over to Vallion’s side and curled up just a few inches away. Even if he just continued to ignore her anyway, she still felt a little more comfortable next to him. Having to get used to this kind of travel again in such a short timespan-- she could scarcely imagine how hard it must be on him on top of everything else. The Delphox resisted the urge to roll over and embrace him, her arms giving a twitch of their own. 'How bad are the nightmares for you?' she wanted to ask. 'Is there anything bugging you that you can tell me?' They were such simple questions, she could ask them to anyone else here without a moment's hesitation. Anyone but him. 

The fuzzy throes of sleep approached again, and with it that itch in the back of her throat that always meant trouble. It crossed her mind to just stay up and bear insomnia, but it'd probably be worse to have to listen to what lurked outside the tent until the sun finally rose again. Instead, Panne invited the night as another chance to see if she couldn't tap into Vallion's memories. 

But in the end, all that waited for her was a night of muted horror. 

 

Jirachi flew circles around the Delphox, unaffected by the vicious gusts. "Yeah, but can you really see the future? I mean the whole behind-your-eyelids kind of seeing the future.” 

Panne hesitated to answer, the steep incline beneath her feet a more pressing concern. "Not really? I don't know, I've been a Delphox for like three days. You'd be better off finding a different Delphox entirely and asking them. The only thing I’ve really noticed is that my fire is different now." 

Following in Jirachi's pestering, Volcarona soon fluttered overhead of both of them. "But why was it all red? I saw you use it by the bonfire at the village, and I've never seen fire like that before." 

Again, the Delphox focused on her balance before replying. "Three days is all the experience I've got. I barely have any idea why this kind of fire does what it does, and I haven't had the time to test it, either." 

Jirachi hummed, then turned upside-down to talk directly to the Volcarona. "Why don't you figure out how to make some red fire, too?" 

"Huh? What are looking at me for? I'm not even a Delphox! How do you expect me to make that weird special fire? My job is just to make a lot of it!" 

"Oh you big baby. You can't just give up before even trying!" Jirachi shouted after the bug type. When they both flew off, the storm’s roar obscured their bickering to the point that Panne could only hear the tone of their voices. It wasn't this loud an hour ago, was it? She looked past the canopy into the dark sky, squinting at the rain as her hood fell away. Any faster and someone was going to break an ankle on the horrible terrain, any slower and they might as well camp out and wait to fight to the Spiritomb. She pulled her hood back over her head and groaned before hurrying to catch up with the others. 

Panne winced as she yanked her dress out of a stickler bush she had passed three paces ago. Densely packed and lined with thorns- this environment was unforgiving to any kind of long fur, and the Delphox was beginning to loathe her new body’s physique. The fur dress was impressive at first, but now only served as an inconvenience. What was it even there for, to protect her legs from the desert sun or something? She wasn’t far from just chopping the whole thing off and being done with it. 

Becoming a Delphox meant more than just being ill-suited to the jungle, however. When the Society crossed over into the inner rings of the jungle, the trees grew higher and spread as far out as their branches could reach. Normally, it was the constant showers that carved the rivers which snaked through this region, yet the weather was usually as mild as it was constant. When they did finally come across the first of many rivers to cross, the storm had made it a third larger than normal and move at speeds dangerous for even Floatzel to swim in. The only option was to be carried across one-by-one. 

While everyone shuffled up to the water’s edge and waited for Altaria and Volcarona to ferry them over, Panne fidgeted in the back, her fingers beneath Val’s scarf. Even if the pause was necessary, stopping for just a moment was enough to reignite her anxiety. Eyes darting from tree to tree, she searched for something to fill the space. A memory of an experimental technique from last summer flashed through her head. The results were a pretty resounding failure, but maybe her telekinesis had improved enough for it to work now? 

Panne split off from the group and started towards a fallen tree. She examined it for a few seconds before attempting to wrench a branch from a fallen tree, eventually ending up with a large strip of mossy bark instead. Lips pursed, she shrugged to herself and motioned to drop the wood, but a tug in the front of her skull forced it to rise back up. 

After a moment of mental preparation, Panne held her breath and sat down on the strip of bark while she held it up with telekinesis. The bark dipped slightly inward and her psychic hold on the object buckled, but it seemed to hold just fine. Actually, adding her own weight didn't seem to change all that much. A gasp left her mouth as she lifted herself another three feet into the air almost uninhibited. When a sudden gale nearly flipped her over, she jumped down off the wood and allowed it to fall to the ground, but a slight adjustment would have been enough to recover should she have made the attempt. Despite the fall, a victorious glow spread throughout her body. 

By the time Panne returned to the group, Kadabra and Mawile were already across, and Ampharos was still in Altaria's talons above the rapids. The Delphox shot a smirk to Mismagius, who hummed in confusion. "Panne, why do you have that piece of wood? You're not seriously going to try surfing in this, are you? Has Vallion’s sulking finally driven you insane?" 

"Yeah, no. Not yet." Panne levitated the wooden chunk into the air and sat down like before, a confident grin on her face. She raised herself just a few inches at a time, but the motion was so smooth that it must have looked like she had been practicing this trick for months. 

"Oh!" Mismagius' gasp brought attention to the Delphox in the back. "My, I didn't know you could do that!" 

“Neither did I.” After just a few more testing motions, Panne felt she could at least reliably fly in a straight line. "Alright, Val. You ready?" 

The Servine shot a nervous glance towards Altaria, then back to her. "Uh. I- Doesn't it seem like that wood is bending a little too much? Why wouldn’t you just wait to be carried over?" 

"Because this way is much faster, and I’d rather be the one carrying you than anyone else. Come on, do you really think I'd drop you?" It was more of a joke than it was a serious offer, but she grinned extended her hand nonetheless. There’s no way any iteration of Vallion would agree to-. 

“Fine!” he shouted above the wind, his eyes avoiding the Delphox. “Fine, I'll get on! But you really better not drop me!" 

“Huh?” Panne tilted her head. “If you're seriously not comfortable with getting on, you don't have to. I'm just-" Before she could finish, Val hoisted himself up onto the wooden chunk, her telekinesis buckling from surprise. 

“I’m not going to wait for you to try and goad me into it this time!” the Servine snapped as his vines wrapped around her torso. “I don’t need that extra five minutes of indecision anymore! If you’re really not going to drop me, then prove it!” 

Vallion pressed into the Delphox’s back as he adjusted himself. Panne had to grip the bark with both hands just to remind herself to keep it afloat. She was only going to test out the trick, why would he even agree to this? A huge lump formed at the base of her throat. 

"Just hurry up with it. But not too fast," Vallion muttered to the back of her head. With a deep breath, the Delphox steadied herself and willed the wood to pull forward. Altaria flew just below them, poised to help at any moment should Panne slip up. “You shouldn’t be messing around at a time like this! What if you fell in?! Do you really think you’d be able to swim in that?” Mismagius chuckled. “Come now, mother-bird. You’re going to frighten Vallion right off!” “You guys are all lunatics!” Dedenne said while Volcarona and Jirachi cheered on. 

The crossing wasn’t as challenging as the pressure lead it up to be. Panne held her breath as the rapids roared beneath her feet, but before she knew it, they were over solid ground once more. The Delphox let the bark drop once they were far enough away from the water’s edge, a prickling numbness flooding into her temples. Vallion unraveled himself from her torso and slithered off, but it didn’t seem to be out of brooding so much as it was overstimulation. 

Talk of Panne’s discovery ended up lasting for another half-hour into the journey, though the conversations trailed off after a while. Along the way, Panne searched for large rocks to levitate and throw, gradually testing the boundaries of her telekinesis in this new form. Her control over the objects she picked up had improved immensely, something she didn’t really notice while moving crates back at the village. She didn’t even get tired as quickly as before, the tugging inside her skull still below a headache after all that practice. 

The Society ended up following one of the overflowing rivers after a while, but came to a screeching halt once that river opened up into a bog. After quick flash of the map, they discovered that this particular swamp had grown to twice its original size, and that their original path was now beneath four feet of water. They instead headed towards a southern series of cliffs that were at least passable, though there would undoubtedly be some climbing involved. Panne hid her grimace beneath the rim of her hood and began to search the trees for a large branch to sever. 

With every mountain the Delphox had scaled in her life, Panne couldn't help but smile as she settled herself on the limb of a tree and flew straight up the cliff for a fraction of the effort. Vallion refused to ride with her this time, so she levitated a short ways beneath him while he climbed in case her offer was reconsidered. Once they had cleared the first cliff, several more rose into the sky before them. 

Progress slowed to a crawl, but it was progress nonetheless. The typhoon swirled around them all the while, yet it was never any as fierce as it was back at Lively City. The Spiritomb has had every opportunity to wash them away in a flood or strike them with lightning, but it’s barely even made a move to intimidate them for the better part of two days. Surely it hadn’t gotten any less powerful if their nightmares were still getting worse. Were they really going to walk the whole way without a scratch? "Oh," Panne said aloud. "It's going to wait until the ritual to attack us!" 

"Hm?" Ampharos blinked as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Wait, you mean the Spiritomb? How do you figure that?" 

"I mean, it doesn’t very willing to attack us head-on still, but why hasn’t it at least tried to at least weaken us? It has all of nature’s fury at its disposal and the worst it’s done is make it windy, no flash floods or lightning or anything! And it’s practically cleared the path for us with how it scares away all the wildings! There's no way it hasn't planned to let us get all the way up to the end!" She swerved back and forth on the branch, the surge of emotion indicative in her telekinesis. 

Mismagius materialized in the shadow of a nearby bush. "It makes sense to me. I can constantly feel the Spiritomb bearing down on us, but all it's ever done is be oppressive. If it wanted another spectral creature like me gone it would have gotten rid of me a long time ago." 

"Vallion would be vulnerable during the ritual. I figured the abomination might know that," Hydreigon said as they flew out past the cliff’s edge to remain level with the party. "Seeing how it revealed itself with a similar ritual, the abomination would certainly know how to manipulate that volatile energy. How many of its minds needed to have been familiar with those arts for it to retain such a fine comprehension after all this time? Oh, perhaps this was the prison of a cult!" 

"It doesn’t matter what it used to be!" the Delphox snapped back, growling to scratch at the itch in her throat. "I am so tired of this thing screwing with us! I've said it hundreds of times before, but seriously!" 

Dedenne spoke up in a monotone from across the party. "Yes, you really have said that a few hundred times now." 

"I mean it this time! I’m going to kill this thing until it’s finally dead!" Panne shouted. She pounded a fist against a passing tree, then gasped as something suddenly grabbed her foot. The branch she was riding kept going while the rest of her stopped. The Delphox twisted her head and saw the lip of the cliff whizz by. The vine that tangled around her ankle snapped as it bore the rest of her weight. The tips of her claws barely scraped the bark of her branch as it spiraled away. The thrumming pressure of telekinesis spread throughout her skull as she broke out of the stun. There was still enough time! 

Panne’s concentration was shattered when a black mass slammed into her side. The Spiritomb had finally got her, she thought to herself- but there was no pain. Something dark surrounded her, but she recognized the pokemon soon enough. "And this is the second time I've had to carry you out of danger," Hydreigon scolded her as they flew back up to the top of the cliff. "If you're going to fly, do it higher above the ground, and much farther from a sheer drop like that. I realize you're new to this sort of thing, but being upset is not an excuse to be reckless." 

By the time Panne had been returned to the ground, she was already fuming. Her back went rigid as the dragon's shadow passed over her, and she grit her teeth as she spoke. "Thanks, but I think I would have been able to catch myself if you'd have given me a few more seconds. The drop was plenty long enough for me to grab that stick again. I probably wouldn't have even gotten that hurt from the fall, anyways." 

"That was around two hundred feet. You didn't seriously expect to emerge unharmed from that kind of distance, did you?" Hydreigon said as their eyes narrowed. 

"I didn't have to survive the fall. I was going to put the branch back under me and catch myself. I'm not saying that I'm ungrateful, it's just that the situation was under control." Bound to the earth once more, Panne brushed herself off and continued on as if nothing just happened. Her friends bombarded her with sympathy and worry, but the Delphox just ignored them. It wasn't a lie, she could have saved herself just fine!.. Why does it always have to be her? Why is she the only one that ends up in this kind of situation, looked down on like she was still just a kid? Who else here has fought the Spiritomb and won? Who else here could do what she’s done to protect Vallion?! 

The dragon glared daggers at her when she looked back. "You'd refuse my help, even for something like that? What if it had been someone else that saved you, like Altaria?" 

Panne waved them away. "She already knows what I'm capable of. I'm just making sure you do, too." 

Hydreigon raised their voice louder than she had ever heard them go, a booming roar that was impossible to keep her back to. "Something has to be done about this! I refuse to play along with your idiotic game any longer! You try to tiptoe around your feelings, but it sounds like stomping! Say what you mean, say it in front of everyone for once!" 

Everyone was watching, their stares like spotlights as they burned into Panne’s fur. "What's your problem?" the Delphox hissed. She turned towards him, left foot forward like she was poised to strike. "I already told you, I'm not going to trust you until Val's better! If you don't like it, why don’t you do something about it?" 

"You are the most immature creature on this side of the hemisphere." The dragon loomed forward, too slow for her to react aggressively. "Listen to me. I want this tug-of-war to end already, and since you are terrible at words, we are going to understand each other through a different method. I’m going to get this fight out of the way before you decide to take a much less ideal opportunity to start it." 

Her fists clenched, as did her heart. "So now you're just going to threaten m-" 

"Yes! I am going to threaten you!" they interrupted her with a shout. "We are going to cross this stretch of jungle and set up camp, and then we are going to finally fight! It's not going to be a spar, we are not pulling our punches just because it's dangerous. I want you to try and kill me!" 

Panne took a step back. "What? I'm not going to kill you, I'd just... What would that even prove? What's the point?" 

"The point is that you're too stubborn to understand any other language but battle, so I'm going to have a very important conversation with you." They weren't more than three feet away from her now. Hydreigon's eyes were unyielding, but the Delphox tried her best to glare back with the same fierceness. "You will not kill me,” the dragon began again, “I want you to simply try to. Try to like I am your worst enemy, like I've taken your Vallion away from you and tortured him for weeks. I need you to hate me sincerely instead of this back-handed condescending drivel. Prepare yourself for then." 

At this point, Ampharos stepped in. "Come now, is any of this really all that necessary? Time is of the essence, and we just can't afford to let ourselves get hurt over squabbles like this. May I remind you that a major injury might end up spelling death out here? I'm sure the Spiritomb has been waiting very patiently for such an opportunity." 

Panne sucked in a breath to respond, but Hydreigon cut her off once more. "Oh I know. I appreciate your attempts to keep the peace, Ampharos, but I'm afraid we're well beyond that now. There are times to be conservative, and there are times when there is no choice but to be bold. It won't be any death, and if Panne is truly willing, I assure you there won’t be any major injuries." 

"This isn't bravery! It's stupidity!" Altaria shrieked overhead. "You're both going to get yourselves hurt!" 

"I want to do it," the Delphox spoke up, a nervous fluttering in her chest. "If I'm going to fight with Hydreigon at the site of some betrayal, I'd rather do it while we're not fighting the Spiritomb as well." She looked to Vallion and felt her veins run cold as he turned away. Was it disgust? Did he hate her for this, too? 

"What do you mean? Why is Hydreigon betraying us?" Ampharos tilted his head. 

The Dragon huffed. "I'm not. I was never planning to. Come this evening, I'm hoping to not have to be accused for such a thing ever again. Now let's get going. Sticking around here in discussion of the fight won’t make it come any sooner." 

Disquieted murmurs filled the air as the group fell back into the same old marching motion, but Panne could no longer hear over her own thoughts. Little cinders blew into the gale as she sighed. Was this supposed to be the betrayal? If Hydreigon really had planned on getting rid of her this way and making it seem like an accident, they had another thing coming. The legendary hero of Dark Matter wasn’t going to lose to some rickety old snake!


	18. Litany of Might

As Panne stared at a shimmering break in the clouds, she felt the nervous beat of her heart grow softer. The evening’s orange light glistened through the break, painting the rest of the sky in its color and disrupting the gloom that had followed them for days on end. Not a single drop of rain had fallen on her head since they had set up camp half an hour ago. For just a moment, she found it hard to believe that anything was wrong at all. Her fingers slid beneath Vallion’s scarf while she gazed at the light, but a familiar voice in the distance brought her sight back to ground-level. Hydreigon was waiting, and with them the peaceful moment would melt away. 

After a heavy sigh the Delphox pressed through the flaps of the tent. It felt unnervingly quiet, as the rest of the group had been waiting downhill for the fight to start. Panne rummaged through her bag, pulling out a two-inch blade sheathed in cloth. Pulling at the knot that safely bound it, the cloth fell away to reveal the crude iron edge—meticulously cleaned but rarely used. Vallion could sharpen his vines finer than that, and it wasn’t as if she’d ever be separated from him in the wild. After tossing the blade’s weight around for a few moments, she tugged at the soaked fur dress that hung worthlessly around her waist. There was no way she was going to win the duel when this stupid thing was weighing her down. 

Yet as soon as Panne left the dimmed shelter of the tent, the fur on her back shot straight up. A shadow shifted in the corner of her vision, a purple mass that emerged from the brush. Mismagius chuckled as his body materialized. “My, my, I hope you’re not planning what I think you’re planning with that little thing. I’m certain a wild stabbing isn’t what Hydreigon meant when they arranged this duel.” 

"Well, you know the myth- can’t kill a Hydreigon without cutting off each of its heads first." Panne shook her head before wading into the brush behind the tent. "No, I'm cutting off this stupid skirt I got when I evolved. It's wet and heavy and I'm basically sick of it already, so I figure it'd be best to just get rid of it now." 

“Oh, what a shame! I was really impressed with how it looked while you were dancing. Though, I suppose it’ll grow back after a while.” Mismagius followed her into the thicket without a single regard to her privacy. “A Delphox without their dress, eh? That’s not something you get to see every day.” 

She almost considered shooing the ghost away, but decided it wasn’t worth her effort. "What are you so cheerful about? I’d assume that the Spritomb would’ve put you in a perpetual bad-mood, but so far I haven’t even heard a grumble out of you.” She got to work sawing at the wet fur, starting a few inches below her waist. 

"Not cheerful, just well-fed," Mismagius replied in a low tone. “Not all the wildlings were able to flee the storm. You might not see it on the surface, but there are dozens of burrows and nests all around, and the ones that weren’t empty…Well, they weren’t spared by the demon either. The residual energies around here though, and the emotions are enough to keep me satisfied. " 

“Good god Mismagius, You sound like a supervillain every time you talk about you feeding on emotions. There are plenty of other ways to say what you just said without sounding like you just ate a baby or something.” 

The ghost chuckled to himself. "Perhaps we really are the villains in this story." 

"Yeah, I really kind of doubt that. Maybe only you." Another section of her dress fell to the ground. 

"“Now, now, there’s no need to be closed-minded. It wouldn’t be too hard to paint you as a minor villain at least. I mean, if the way you’ve been treating Kadabra is any indicator, you’re already well on your way to being there. Not to mention fighting our guide when all they’ve done is try to help as best they can, or brushing off all of the efforts everyone’s put into the last few days. There’s plenty you’ve been taking for granted.” 

The Delphox shook her head. “I’m kinda in the middle of getting ready for a fight, can you not be an undead buzzkill right now? This is something I need to do.” 

“Is it really? Bash the dragon over the head just because they aren’t the spitting image of trust?” Mismagius stopped smiling, his cheerful mood melting into an accusing glare. “I’m not sure if you’ve realized it yet, but this isn’t supposed to be a problem. You’re the one that’s flailing about, crying every hour or so about your precious security like a child without their blanket. Vallion hasn’t made a sliver of the fuss you have, and he’s the one who should be worried about it in the first place! 

Panne tightened her grip on the knife as she picked up her pace. “Val is selfless, of course he wouldn’t care! There are plenty of Pokémon who’d try to manipulate him if I weren’t around, and this Hydreigon’s been in the perfect place to do that for days on end! Why would I ever let my guard down with something like that going on?!” 

“Do you actually think the rest of us aren’t looking out for him too? Panne, who do you think you’re traveling with, after all these years? You’re the one who told us to find this dragon in the first place, and you know we’d search every inch of the world for you and him.” With a scoff, Mismagius tilted his head to the sky. “It’s a good thing everyone else is here, since you probably couldn’t even protect Val on your own. Not how you’ve been going about it, at least." 

"What? I would! Of course I would!" Another bundle of fur gave way, nearly causing the Delphox to stab her own leg. “It’s not just the damn dragon, if anyone so much as tries to pluck a scale from his body I’ll rip their throats out!” 

“So what happens when you’re bleeding in the mud with Hydreigon looming over your broken body, or when the Spiritomb overwhelms you after another million are killed? What if the dragon is telling the truth?” 

"What do you honestly expect my answer to be?! I'll say it until the world cracks apart, and everything turns to dust! I'll say it so many times you'll be able to hear it at the end of the universe! Dammit Mismagius, what do you want from me?!" 

The ghost let the silence hang for far longer than was necessary, the sound of Panne panting in anger and effort filling the space. His face softened as he stared. “I’d like you to have some trust in us, at least that. You’re surrounded by love, even if you refuse to believe it. I don’t know why you’re so afraid of being alone when there’s already so many of us here for you. We’re supposed to be a family Panne, whether you’re willing to accept that or not.” The ghost chuckled for a moment, “By the way Panne, that short skirt is definitely an interesting look to you.” 

Mounds of red fur clumped at her feet. What few uneven inches remained began to naturally curve upward like a Braixen’s coat now that it weighed a fraction of what it once had. She paced around the thicket a few times, and although the transformation did make it easier to slip past the vines and thorns, she was unable to feel any satisfaction over her results. She began to remember the promise to apologize to her friends back at Serene Village, recalling in agonizing detail how many times she slighted them in the first few days of this mess. How was she ever going to accomplish that if it was so easy for her to forget in the first place? Tears of frustration gathered in her eyes..“Do you seriously think I can’t protect Val?” 

"Maybe, maybe not. I half said that to get a reaction out of you," Mismagius said, chuckling to himself. "Still, that isn't the point. You shouldn't be fighting with anyone in the first place. Vallion doesn't only have you, and you don't only have him." 

"I'm still so scared," the Delphox muttered as she started back towards her bag, rhythmically squeezing the hilt of the knife. "I've been scared this whole time. Ever since he lost his memories, it's just been one worry after another. At first I was scared that he'd never get his memories back, and when that calmed down it was the first impressions and hoping he didn't start to hate me. Then it was making sure he didn't try to do something heroic and stupid, and now I can't shake the feeling he's being manipulated somehow. I've hardly even thought about anyone or anything else since I left the village. There's been a massacre going on for weeks and I'm still concentrating on trying to make Val talk to me! It's seriously so stupid." She dropped the knife and pulled two wands from the tangle of her belongings. A sigh of smoke blew back into her face. 

"Then why are you still getting ready for the fight?" the ghost whispered into her ear. "Why go through with it if you know it's the wrong thing?" 

"Because I don't even care anymore. It doesn't matter if Hydreigon is the most honest pokemon on the planet, I'm going to wring out every last drop of betrayal that might even have a chance of crossing their mind." Panne fit the Tempest Looplet around her neck with a click and felt it start to tighten over her scarf. "I should have just done this from the beginning. It would’ve probably saved a lot of heartache if I just got this fight out of the way earlier." 

Mismagius shook his head. "You've got some problems, Panne." 

“I just have to protect Val, I just have to. Even if I’m a worse person for the way I do it, I think I could live with anything as long as I just do that.” The Delphox pointed the blasting wand at the base of a nearby sapling and held her breath. The tip of the wand began to smoulder with a red glow as the looplet constricted her neck. An explosion surged forth that blew her arm back and echoed through the hills, decapitating the young tree from its roots as well as tearing up the surrounding ground. Debris continued to fall for several seconds afterward while she scooped up the splintered remains of the sapling. "You might as well come watch my mistake. I'm going to make it as dangerous as possible, so that I can regret it even more later. It’ll be more fun that way." 

Panne bundled up the wands and the sapling beneath her arms as she climbed the ridge that the camp overlooked. Tiny patches of sunlight dotted along the plains below, the jungle behind them replaced by distant swamps and grasslands. Jirachi nearly flew head-first into the Delphox, stopping inches from her face. "Woah! What's going on, what was that explosion?! Are we under attack?!" 

"Nope," Panne swiftly replied and hurried off down the hill. When she caught a glimpse of the Hydreigon, a cold wave of apprehension surged down her spine. The dragon had never glared at her in quite the same way as they did now. She stopped herself from freezing up and kept walking, ignoring the mental muscle that only flexed when a powerful wildling was sizing her up. In their eyes was the ruthless monster she had been trying to uncover all this time, yet everyone that ran to her didn't seem to care. 

"Are you okay? What-... Oh wow. What did you even do up there? I've... never even imagined a Delphox without their skirt. It seems so strange," Mawile said, a hand on her chin. 

"What does this have to do with that big explosion, though? Did you decide to blow all of your fur off or something?" Volcarona flew a wide circle around Panne, marvelling at her transformation. 

The Delphox was reluctant to take her eyes off of Hydreigon. Anxiety gripped her throat as she looked to her friends. “It was getting in the way, and I figure I can just grow it back later. I wasn’t going to fight with that stupid thing weighing me down anyway." One by one, the Society's faces turned back into nervous frowns at the mention of her duel. Panne straightened her back as she started towards the dragon once more, using the sapling as a walking stick for the rest of the way. 

Once Panne had gotten close enough to see Hydreigon's eyes, their glowering softened. "We don't have much time to spare, The storm will surely find its way through the mountains in time." The rhythm of their wings like a slow heartbeat. "Do you know of my intentions, the reason why I've come all this way to guide Vallion back to his memories?" 

"I know what you've told me," Panne replied as she lifted the fallen tree with telekinesis, taking a cross-legged seat. "That's why my intentions are what they are now. I don't trust that everything you've said is the total truth, and I can't accept anything else. I don't buy that the oh-so-powerful ancient wouldn't know what happened to their favorite human years and years ago, and I don't buy that you don't have a grudge for it." 

A few confused looks spread across the Society as Hydreigon hissed back. "Of course you don't, you stubborn child! You wouldn't believe the sky was blue unless it came crashing down on your head. That is why I will do just that!" The dragon lowered their heads, the small motion causing Panne's entire body to tense up with anticipation. 

Ampharos spoke out before anyone could make a move. "Wait! Wait a moment! What are you doing with that looplet, Panne? I was under the impression that this was supposed to be a fair fight, but Hydreigon doesn't have any equipment at all." 

"They told me to fight like they were my worst enemy. If I did have a worst enemy, why would I ever think to fight them fairly? They'd probably try to hurt the people I love if I didn't win the first time." The Delphox held the two wands close to her chest, concentrating on the weight of the magic inside them. 

Rather than agree with Ampharos, Hydreigon started to laugh like she'd just told a clever joke. "Oh, that's excellent!" the dragon exclaimed. "I was beginning to wonder if my opposition would finally cause you to back down, but this is exactly the mentality I wanted out of you! Now then, what are we waiting for? Somebody start counting down so that I can have this conversation proper!" 

Mawile hesitantly began to count down. “Three.” 

"I hate this so much," Altaria added and looked away. 

“Two...” Panne stowed the left wand into the fur beneath her arm, choosing instead to dig her claws into the sapling beneath her. 

“One!” Hydreigon's expression grew feral once more as the heads on each side clamped their mouths shut. A thrumming noise filled the air. 

The Delphox shot forward with her telekinesis, nearly losing her mental grip immediately as the muddy ground she was just standing on exploded in the air. Panne didn't hesitate to start moving evasively, yet debris battered her in the back as Hydreigon narrowly missed another artillery strike. There was no subtlety at all, they were trying to kill her outright! With barely had enough practice to dodge with this flying technique, she didn't want to think about what would have happened if she were still on foot. When the dragon began to lead shots, Panne suddenly swerved towards her foe, blasting wand raised. 

Yet before any shots could be fired in return, Hydreigon raised their wings and burst upwards into the sky, Streaks of red poured from her wand and expanded into huge plumes of fire, but for having such a large target, Panne couldn't manage to land a single hit. All she saw was a glint of blue before another energy pulse devastated the ground several feet beside her. The impact's shockwave left her gasping like a punch to the gut, clumps of dirt raining down on her head while she regained her composure. It was impossible to win from this range, but she still couldn't fly nearly as well as they could, nor could she aim half as well while concentrating on telekinesis. The Delphox ignored the fear in her veins and abandoned the sapling entirely, yanking the second wand from her wrist fur while she took off running. 

An unearthly screech sounded from above, the same attack as the Spiritomb. Panne swung the pounce wand as hard as she could towards a tree in the distance, counting the seconds that passed as she ran. The world warped around her as she reappeared on the other side of the field, and the black crescent that Hydreigon summoned sliced through the dirt like a knife through butter. Out of position and confused, the dragon was forced to correct their flight path, making movements far more predictable than anything she had seen up until now. The opportunity closed as soon as she had noticed it however, and was replaced with a warning of blue light. 

Eruptions of dirt erased the Delphox's footprints as she bounded across the plains, her heart skipping a beat with each narrow miss. She had to swing the pounce wand every few seconds just to continue dodging the blasts, and it wasn't all that full to begin with. Hydreigon seemed to have notice the earlier opportunity as well and refused to make the same mistake twice. Panne did everything she could to force them to reposition, dashing beneath them, pouncing to the other side of the field, even launching her own attacks--all to no avail. Every single time, the window to strike was just barely too small for her to catch. How many more of these blasts could they even shoot? 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of feints, the dragon banked into a turn for just a few moments too long. Panne sucked a breath into her aching lungs and set the pounce wand aflame. When it was swung, a fireball marbled with gold and red spiraled through the air towards what was currently empty sky. Both wands were quickly stowed in the fur beneath her wrists as the Tempest Looplet continued to strangle her in anticipation. A sudden vacuum swept her up and exploded into heat and light. Her claws dug into the surprised Hydreigon's scales as she emerged from the inferno. Against the dragon's flailing attempts to shake her off, Panne clung tightly to their side and poured every ounce of strength she could spare into a storm of raw fire, a silent shout stuck at the bottom of her throat. 

When Panne's grip finally loosened, rather than getting thrown like a ragdoll and losing all control, she took in a huge gulp of air and kicked off of Hydreigon's side. The dragon's silhouette twisted in a black cloud of smoke while she fell, but they didn't immediately fly away. The Delphox yanked the blasting wand from her fur and pointed it up between her feet, concentrating on the swirling convection of heat in her chest. A thin vortex of fire narrowed into a beam as it entered the smoke cloud, but expanded into a massive crimson plume out the other side when it met resistance within. Hydreigon's roar was deafened by the sound of a thousand popping sparks, then all was deafened when the fire finally detonated. 

Ears ringing, Panne pivoted her body towards the ground and took the pounce wand into her other hand. After a disorienting swing and a few bated seconds, her momentum came to an abrupt stop and she was deposited face-first into the mud. It occurred to her that she didn't check to see if the wand even had another charge left in it before warping two-hundred feet into the air. A tiny chuckle bubbled up between gasps as the Delphox pushed to a stand. When she looked up, the cloud of smoke began to stretch into the wind, and Hydreigon was nowhere to be seen. A tiny sense of victory peeked its head for a few moments, but ducked back behind her heart when she heard the grating screech of a dark pulse over the high-pitched drone in her ears. 

The attack missed her entirely, but the dragon got their point across from the deep trench it left in the earth. Panne glanced back up at the sky, but her eyes had a hard time following Hydreigon as they started speeding towards the ground in a nose-dive. The Delphox picked up a sprint as the battle reignited, but having stopped at all made her slower, and there was no way she had enough left in her pounce wand to continue the same dance as earlier. A nearby explosion rocked her frame, further urging her to find a way to finish this soon. Had her attack even had an effect on them at all? 

Hydreigon didn't try the same tactic twice. Using the momentum of the dive, the dragon closed the distance in seconds and attacked, nearly braining her as they shot by. Even the wind caused her to stagger, a yelp of fear stuck in her throat. If she hadn't ducked just that tiny amount, they would've...Panne flattened her ears and growled. Rather than reposition herself while Hydreigon swung around to make another swoop, she took a wide stance and put both hands on the blasting wand. The looplet squeezed tighter around her neck in reaction to the panic in her blood. Stop, think! What would she do if Vallion was hiding behind her right now? 

As soon as the dragon was speeding towards her, Panne stood her ground and started swinging the wand as fast as her arms could move. Most of the fireballs were merely aimed in the cardinal direction of Hydreigon, but she didn't care for accuracy anymore. The Delphox cried out as she launched one last blast three times as large as the others, the sting of adrenaline crawling through her fingers. A great cyan light somehow pierced through the blinding flare of her barrage. The ground started to rumble as the light intensified, the crimson of her fire disappearing one by one like stars disappearing in the dawn. Panne grabbed for her pounce wand, realized quickly that its power had all been spent, then scrambled out of the way as quickly as her feet allowed. The ground quaked as a meteor skipped on by, wind and tingling energy rushing around her. She was still somehow standing after it had passed. 

The dragon was forced to readjust their flight path once more, strands of colorful smoke still pouring from all of their three mouths. The moment was safe, but Panne felt a timer ticking in the back of her head. She had no pounces left and the blasting wand was nearly a worthless nub. It was only a matter of seconds before Hydreigon came back in for another pass. If they insisted in charging at her like that, there had to be some way to turn their momentum against them. Heartbeat loud in her ears, the Delphox began to scour the battlefield for something that could even hope to flip a diving dragon. 

Her time was up in an instant. The Delphox searched for a hill so that she could hide in its dip, but found that the immediate area was desperately flat and barren. After a deep breath, she pointed what remained of her blasting wand at the ground and willed a slow smoulder at its tip, an obscuring cloud of smoke forming around her. Three seconds left, Hydreigon didn't budge an inch from their trajectory. Two seconds, a pang of apprehension snuck its way into her chest at the last moment. One second, Panne jumped to the side and opened herself up to using telekinesis despite not having an object to focus on, preemptively pulling downward on whatever was in front of her. 

The Hydreigon was in Panne's mental grasp for less than a fraction of a second, but a flood of pain quickly burned through her skull from her temples outward. While she merely buckled from the strain, the dragon was thrown off balance just enough to lose control of their incredible speed. They tucked in both heads and wings as they hit the ground, tumbling so quickly across the field that nothing short of a cliff could stop them. When Hydreigon finally came to a stop some eighty feet out, they sprawled out and gasped for breath in the tall grass. Everything came to a stand-still. 

Panne started towards the dragon, each step coming quicker after the last until she broke out into a full run. She pointed her palms to the wind while fire stirred in her lungs. The red flames that emerged from her hands stuttered at first, stunted from the pain behind her eyes, but she reignited them soon enough. A vortex of energy swirled inside of her- the kiln for her craft. The Delphox visualized the jaws of a beast while the flames grew, crushing muscles and gnashing teeth. The creature would bound towards its prey as drops of cinder spittle flew from its maw. With the downed Hydreigon just before her, Panne put her palms together and started to give her savage imagery shape. 

"Idiot!" Something sharp pecked at the back of Panne's head, causing her to lose all momentum in both her stride and in her pyrokinesis. The Delphox tripped hard. Face-down in the grass, she didn't bother trying to get up again. Altaria immediately started to complain as she turned Panne over and began examining her for injuries. "The both of you are idiots! What were you even thinking, launching yourself into the air like that? What would have happened if you didn't have another charge in your pounce wand? Did you even consider how difficult it was for us to watch all of this? And you, Hydreigon! You could have easily dodged those fireballs, there was absolutely no reason to to use an attack like that! You shouldn't have used that attack at all!" 

The rest of the Society caught up while Altaria fussed. Panne finally found the will to sit up and remove the looplet constricting her throat, a sigh of fatigue spilled over her tongue. Hydreigon finally rose from the harsh tumble, a dazed expression stuck on their face and a slight sway to their posture. After a few moments, they began to laugh. 

"Is everyone okay? There's no serious injuries, right?" Ampharos hurriedly glanced over the two combatants. 

"No, but there's sure going to be if they don't shape up and get along after this!" said Altaria, her voice still flipping between worry and anger. 

After Hydreigon had calmed down, they lifted their heads to the Delphox. "I haven't felt a rush like that in years! Oh, what a wonderful kind of danger! You're so difficult to hit!" 

Panne looked the dragon up and down, a tired scowl on her face. "You're not even scathed. You're barely even burnt at all." 

"My scales were doing quite well against your attacks until you nearly broke my neck. I admire that you've somehow managed to make this battle deadly for the both of us. Did it not feel so sincere, though? Did you not feel the truth in our fury?" Hydreigon smiled as if a battle had not been fought to begin with. "I think we've communicated our intentions fairly well this evening, don't you?" 

Panne attempted to search for something more sinister in the dragon's warm expression, as she had done plenty of times before, but found that she no longer could. They seemed to be every bit as honest now as they were while launching mortar shots at her head. "I could have died at any point in that you know, what do you think the reaction would have been if you had just blasted me to bits in front of everyone? That wouldn't have helped your case with anyone, much less me." 

Hydreigon started to chuckle once more. "Well that's kinda the point, isn't it? With everything at stake, would you really have let yourself be extinguished by such an inconsequential battle? So long as you fought with all your strength, you were never in any real danger." 

"So no, it would have definitely not helped your case with anyone," Mawile said with a shake of her head. "It's impossible to be comfortable having to watch Panne go through something like that alone, and that... is absolutely not a good enough excuse at this point. I hope this is the last we're going to see of this, because I'm not willing to let it happen again." 

"Of course not!" Altaria shouted. "Panne's still young, she hasn't moved out of her reckless phase yet, but what's with you Hydreigon? What kind of ancient creature goes around trying to kill little girls and just expects them to jump out of the way every time?" 

The Delphox sniffed. "What do you mean little girl?" 

"Ooh, you know what I mean! Problems like these are not things you're supposed to fight out! Just-.. I'm glad you're okay." The Altaria let out an exasperated breath and enveloped Panne in her wings. 

"I don't really know what you were all expecting. This is Panne we're talking about here, " Volcarona spoke as she fluttered by. "Her and Val are probably the most qualified of us all to do dangerous hero stuff. It's almost literally in their blood. I mean come on, how many times have most of us even seen the Spiritomb with our own eyes? I'm pretty sure she's at three or four right now. Everyone looks down on these things and calls them reckless and stupid, but it's the reason I joined the Society at all! I would have been stuck in Poliwrath River forever if they hadn't come along." 

Ampharos slowly exhaled. "Everything in moderation, I suppose. It's not so bad to do something foolish every once in awhile as long as you have someone to do it with. And with all of us here, that makes for a lot of wiggle room, doesn't it?" 

In response, Volcarona nodded. "I wouldn't have come if this was going to be like any other boring expedition! Er, not literally. I would have come to help get Vallion's memories back regardless. Like I said, I still owe both of them a lot. I just like the loud parts." 

"You people are terrible influences!" Altaria exclaimed, but there was a smile growing on the corners of her beak. 

Though Panne couldn't see Mismagius in the physical world, she still felt his stare bearing down on her. "Yes, I know," she mouthed, trying her best not to express the bubbly feeling in her chest. A stab of guilt had worked its way through her ribs at how nobody seemed to bring up all of her mistakes. There was no way she deserved the kind of company she kept. The Delphox turned towards Vallion, whom she had been avoiding since Hydreigon demanded to duel her, and saw that he was smiling as well. When their eyes met, the Servine didn't look away like he usually did. There was a tone of seriousness in his expression, but it was gone the next time he blinked. 

"We should head back to camp," Hydreigon said. "The sun is nearly set, and the clouds are starting to catch up with us. There's still a little more time for us to enjoy this respite before the demon returns." 

It was then that the Delphox started to hear the quickening patter of rain. There were hardly any patches of sunlight left, leaving the landscape sullen and grey. Panne picked herself up with Altaria's help and started towards the ridge, her heart growing heavier by the minute. 

 

 

Despite the returning storm, Panne could honestly say that supper was in good spirits. The quiet mumbling of the previous nights had evolved into larger conversations filled with laughter. Additionally, the break in the storm gave everyone a chance to dry off more thoroughly than usual. That alone would have been enough to improve the general mood of things as far as she was concerned. Panne flattened down the sides of her shortened dress and pressed an indent into the tent wall with her back. 

It didn't take long for the Delphox to grow restless, however. Even with how exhausted she felt, Panne knew she wouldn't get to sleep just staring up at the ceiling. What resolutions was she going to achieve by going to bed anyway? After a few more thoughtful moments, she pinched the bridge of her snout and pushed to a stand. She started towards Vallion, who continued to sit quietly in his little corner and watch the world go by. "Hey," she began cautiously. "We're getting really close to the jungle your body's supposed to be buried in, you know. We might actually be able to get your memories back tomorrow if we're quick enough." 

The Servine hummed, slowly nibbling away at his dry meal. "We have to beat the Spiritomb first. You were the one who figured out that it was waiting for us to start the ritual thing." 

"Oh, right..." Panne settled down beside him, a claw beneath the scarf on her wrist. "It shouldn't be too tough with all of us. If I can do fine against it, just think what Ampharos or Dedenne could do once they're charged up with emeras. If the damn thing were smart, it would have stayed in the ghost form it started with instead of trying to mess with me. Of all the dangerous things it could have changed into, a storm is probably pretty low on the list." 

"It's changing in other ways though, not just physically. I can hear it speaking with my voice sometimes, and unlike back on the Water Continent, I can almost understand what it's trying to say. It never used to be like that." Vallion shuddered. 

"Well it's a goddamn faker!" Panne snapped in return. She bit at her tongue to reel herself back in, but it was too late to take the outburst back. "It's just copying the memories it stole, that's all. That's really the best it can do to intimidate us now that we're used to its... ghostliness or whatever. We're past the point that it's psychological warfare works on us. I haven't even felt it try to mess with my head all day. It's only ever going to pretend to be you." 

"I wasn't really worried about it pretending to be me." The Servine shrugged with his vines. "I'm just a little anxious is all. That thing probably knows more about me than I do." 

After a pause, the Delphox chuckled. "That's not a very impressive feat, to be honest. You were never really all that good at being the dark and mysterious type for how quiet you were. That never stopped people from painting you in that light though, it would get so silly sometimes." Waves rolled up the sides of the tent as a gust slammed into the fabric, hail pounding away all the while. 

"Really? I don't feel like I'm all that transparent." 

"I mean, you aren't. You used to be. That's kind of why I was so, uh.. controlling, back when we were at the compound. You were acting like you were about to do something incredibly heroic and stupid and I totally expected you to. It's different now, I know, but that's just how it used to be." Panne rolled over onto her back and clutched her tail, still continuing to avoid the Servine's eyes as if the conversation would suddenly end if they met hers. "That's kinda why the whole marriage thing really got to me, you know? You were never really one to keep secrets for long, so a huge scheme like that was definitely a surprise. I never would have thought I'd ever see a Harmony Scarf again, and here I am wearing probably the only two on the planet, all because you wanted to go an extra mile for no reason. That's just how you went about things whenever you got excited, " 

Vallion inhaled through his teeth, held the air in his lungs as if he were bracing for something, then exhaled through his nose. "Hey Panne? I'm really sorry about the last few days." 

"Huh? Sorry about what?" Panne finally turned her head towards the Servine, but found that he was looking away from her as well. Wasn't she the one that was supposed to be sorry? 

The Servine started speaking to the opposite wall. "Well, you know. Everything since the boat when I started to act so stubborn. There was too much going through my head and it just... None of it really mattered. I shouldn't have been obsessing over the kind of stuff I was in the first place. I knew it was making this trip harder on you and I should've stopped a lot sooner, I'm really sorry." 

Panne stayed silent as she allowed the words to sink in, her grin fading into a tight-lipped neutrality. "I just wanted to know what was wrong. This entire time, I kept coming back to the conclusion that Hydreigon was trying to manipulate you somehow. There wasn't a clear way to approach any of it, either. I tried talking to you, and that obviously didn't work at all. I tried talking to Hydreigon, but I still didn't trust them enough to believe their words were a hundred percent true. I couldn't talk to anyone else because I wanted to get as few people involved as possible. Seriously, there's so many things I would go back and do over in just this last week alone, things I would scream at myself for not paying attention to. You're still like a saint compared to me." 

"I'm still mad at you for fighting Hydreigon you know," the Servine muttered. "That much doesn't really need to be said. I do feel partly to blame for the fight taking place in the first place though. We kind of betrayed each other in a roundabout sort of way, didn't we? But whatever, that's all done now. Everything is going to work out from here on out, I'm willing to make any of the necessary sacrifices." 

"I'm not going to let you make any sacrifices, dummy. There's no such thing as a necessary sacrifice and you know that." Panne crossed her arms as she glanced away. squinting at the glare of the lamp. "I know that I might seem like a hypocrite saying that, and I am, but I would never try to die a hero if I could help it. I love you more than anything else in the world, and being safe wouldn't make me happy if it meant I could never see you again. I would rather be dead anyway." 

"I know you would," Vallion murmured as he curled up in the corner, his face hidden behind the leaf on his tail. 

Just beyond the shelter of the canvas walls, a distant rumbling rolled out of the mountains and spread across the plains like a flood. The warm air suddenly went cold, muscles grew rigid, and everyone held their breath while the booming thunder eventually tapered into silence. As soon as the danger seemed to pass, conversations immediately picked back up where they had left off without a care. Panne could only sit and wonder if that apathy actually frustrated the demon or not. 

The Delphox closed her eyes, arms still folded reservedly around her chest. "I'm just really, really glad you're feeling better," she whispered. "You don't even need to tell me what was wrong in the first place. I won't care about whatever it was if you don't either." 

"Hey Panne, I like your voice," Vallion gave the same hushed tone. 

"Hm? Where'd that come from?" 

Val moved his tail just enough to look at her with one eye. "I think you're very soothing when you're speaking softly. You should tell me another story like while we were in Serene Village." 

A sigh filtered through her nose. The wind's howl filled the space left by her silence while she searched for a decent tale. With everything that was swimming around in her head, it seemed almost impossible to think straight. "I dunno, what do you want to hear about? Give me some place to start, there's way too many stories to choose from." 

"Um, I guess I'm in the mood for something kinda cheesy. Tell me about a time when I did something really brave." 

Of course he'd want something like that. Panne gave a yawn as she stretched her legs, the efforts of the day quickly catching up to her. "You could have at least asked for something a little more specific, especially when you're going to be as broad as that. Alright, fine. But only because I kind of want to talk about that kind of thing too. Now let me see... I guess I can tell you about the time we went to Zero Isles on commission from another guild. There was a whole lot wrong with that place, let me tell you." She smiled and stared at the glow of the lantern, recalling the order of events from years ago.


	19. Soft

Part 1

Night descended in a flash. Panne was trapped in a forest of never-ending hallways, with landmarks that repeated themselves over and over. She grabbed at the scruff of her chest as she stumbled forward into the maze, something unearthly squeezing around her throat. A rustling followed her, in the corner of her eye she could see it--a huge mass that stood out in the dark. It moved like a flash of light, but it made no sounds and left no trails. Each time the Delphox slowed down, the creature would lunge forward and swipe at her, slicing gashes into her back and urging her forward. Blood trickled down into her tail as she ran. 

Every yelp of pain turned into a wheeze as it left her throat. There was no way of telling if she was running in circles, or if there was even a way out of here at all. Then came a sharp jolt as she had kicked something solid in the brush. She crumpled to the ground and curled into a ball, gasping for breath. Whatever that thing was, it loomed over her like a mountain, almost taunting her before the final blow. 

Panne hissed through gritted teeth, barely able to spit out much more than a single word, "Stop!" She braced herself, arms shielding her head and face, and in that moment she caught a glimpse of the creature's long, serpentine shape. Something in her head clicked, and all of a sudden her eyes seemed to dilate in a way they never had before. That basic, black shape formed a body. Its eyes began to glisten red despite there being no light, and the longer she stared into them the tighter her throat became. She knew exactly who this was. She couldn't bear to forget. 

Panne forgot about her pain and took off into the brush. The Serperior lunged from branch to branch above her head with such ease that it was like the forest itself was after her. Dozens of lashes rained down on her back, but the vines barely cut deep enough to leave marks when they could’ve easily impaled her outright. Ducking into an inky black thicket, she shut her eyes tight. Snags caught on her wounds, trees stood firm in her blind path, and the sound of cracked twigs and jostled leaves never left her ears. When the Delphox burst through the other side of the grass, the dream seemed to distort, placing her now in the middle of a clearing. She didn't bother to stop running, not until there was a hill beneath her feet and a sense of nostalgia that struck like a fist. It wouldn't follow her here. 

Panne struggled to remember where 'here' was, but this place in particular sent a powerful shiver down her spine. Something strong enough to convince her that the forest behind her was safer. As the Delphox trudged up the grassy slope, a horrible feeling started to ball up in the pit of her stomach. Soon there were signs that a massive battle had taken place--craters and ash and the rich odor of drying blood. The further she progressed through the mud and decay, the stronger the coldness felt--it spread up her throat and throughout her ribs. When she tried to clutch her stomach, however, her hands were guided towards her chest instead. The fur was wet and sticky. 

A blanket of dead brambles completely covered the hill. Panne stared at the ground as she walked, blood leaking out from between her fingers. The name of this place was on the very tip of her tongue. When she looked up again, her mouth moved on its own. "I love you." 

A Snivy wept over his love, his hands pressing down on the Fennekin's wound in a desperate attempt to staunch the flow. He cried out for help and cursed at the world in the same sniveling breath, but there was no one else here. A tiny star appeared in the abyssal sky. Panne watched as the dot of light grew, its gentle white turning into a cold shade of purple. Black tendrils surrounded the sphere like greedy fingers as the Delphox lost the strength to stand. She watched as the Snivy's entire body quaked, wracked with sobs so loud that they echoed in her skull and shook the ground beneath her. Everything was so cold, even her own blood. 

"Oh." Panne blinked at the tears in her eyes. It was then she realized that she couldn’t escape into Vallion’s memories anymore. 

 

 

With nothing in all directions but grass and hills, Panne focused on her own two feet as she marched. The repetition helped distract her from the flurry of worries she could have been agonizing over--a metronome to the music of constant progress, interrupted only by the unending applause of the rain. 

"It’s here again!" Mismagius shouted. All the Society collapsed back into a tight group with not a back left uncovered, braced for the attack. An intense gale suddenly ripped through the grasslands, threatening to knock Panne right off her feet. A black layer of noxious fog washed over them, burning at her eyes and nose like a mist of acid. Though the air cleared of the anomaly, within a moment it quickly filled back up with the sound of coughing. 

Ampharos fought to speak through the hacking fit. "Is- Is everyone alright? Did anyone get attacked again?" 

"Not this time," grumbled Mismagius, completely immune to the usual symptoms. The ghost moved in an erratic pattern as he scoured the landscape, constantly seeming to flinch away from something. "Damn, those winds are such a nuisance! It’s impossible to tell if they’re the dangerous kind or not until it’s already too late! What did we do to piss it off even more?" 

Panne struggled to clear her throat, spitting into the weeds below. "I don't think we needed to do anything to piss it off. We're getting close enough as it is, and once we're in there's no scaring us out. No amount of shadow ball hail is going to bother us once we start to find some good emeras. I’d be scared too if I were them!" 

Hydreigon shook their heads, barely sniffling in response to the ghost’s influence. "The abomination has little to fear. Not from us, not from anything. It doesn't matter how dangerous we are if it has all the virtues of time and place.” With a single flap they took off into the air once more. “The very ritual to mend Vallion’s mind is the only thing that can coax it out on our terms, and I fully intend on taking advantage of that. Not in a way that endangers Vallion, of course!" 

"Yeah, yeah, I get it now. You don't need to tell me twice," Panne muttered, squinting up at the rolling sea of clouds. The Spiritomb did seem like it was starting to panic, though. The storm had been getting worse since the morning. Since there were no corners to hide behind in the grasslands, it rained its blows down from the sky, at times with devastating effectiveness. Though she herself was unhurt, they had already gone through three reviver seeds without even making it to the jungle. If attrition was its game however, it would need to play faster. 

The plains felt like they rolled on forever, but there were tiny breaks in the terrain that suggested otherwise. Unusual patches of foliage cropped up here and there, oases of tropical trees and delicate temperate plants. If the map hadn’t already assured them of the powerful dungeon nearby, the proof was spattered right before their very eyes. There was no telling if the jungle’s canopy could protect them from the Spiritomb's attacks, but there were treasures within that surely could. 

"How do you think Mew's been dealing with all of this?" Jirachi asked. 

The question was met with silence at first. Once it was clear nobody else would leave their own thoughts, Mawile spoke up. "I’m not sure. I assume the storm got here shortly before we did, but by all reports this stretch of dungeon has been mostly untouchable by the outside world. The wildlings have probably ran away by now, but I don't think Mew would abandon her own home. We'll see how bad things have gotten once we make our way in I suppose." 

"Mew is here," Hydreigon chimed in without a hint of doubt. "Where else would she be besides here? If Panne never leaves Vallion's side, why would Mew?" 

With every step they took towards the jungle, the earth seemed more bent on preventing them passage. Grasses that once only reached the Delphox's waist had grown to brush past her shoulders, and that was while bowing from the intense rain and wind. Before it became too difficult to keep track of each other, Panne had Val unravel as much of his vines as he could. The Servine said nothing, his expression stoic as he carried out the order. "We're going to get spat right back out where we came in if we aren't careful," the Delphox said, passing the vine down so everyone could grab on. "If that happens, and we're not all connected, it's bad news. Not only would we be separated over miles and miles of landscape without any landmarks, but we’d be separated while the Spiritomb’s throwing its hissy fit. Everyone stay on the ground, don't try to look over the grass. If you feel the air pressure start to shift around you, just keep on walking forward like you normally would in any other dungeon. Never stop walking." 

"Geez, Panne. How many times have you been here?" Kadabra spoke up from somewhere deeper in the thicket. 

Panne gave a shrug, even if nobody but Val could really see the gesture. "Twice, but Vallion's technically at three. Back during those few weeks after Dark Matter while I was gone, he sought out a prophecy from a Xatu that basically implied I was still alive somewhere in this region. It took half a day just for him just to push through this first part and step foot in the dungeon at all." 

"I remember that day," Ampharos continued as they blindly plowed onward. "I had only just begun gathering research on this place when he left for the Grass Continent. So few explorers even knew about if its existence that I ended up wasting my time chasing dead ends while he figured it all out on his own. I’ve certainly heard a lot about this jungle after that, but I’ve yet to see it with my own eyes." 

As they pressed on, the ocean of grass took on a far richer green. Leafy bushes started to catch on their feet, and were soon accompanied by ferns whose leaves reached sizes at least four times what was typically considered normal. The pungent smell of vegetative decay and rebirth hit her nostrils. Not long afterward, a riptide of force suddenly threatened to pull them back out to the plains, tugging so hard that it felt like her bones were magnets being repelled. Panne grit her teeth with each step, one foot after the other, gripping Vallion’s vine as if her life depended on it. Sharp whistling filled the air, and just as soon as it appeared, the otherworldly resistance gave way. The Society all clumsily stumbled out of the dense grassy boundary into the smell of ancient wood and moss. 

"We’re here," Panne said, pulling thorns from her fur. 

Compared to the outside world just a few paces behind, the immediate scene was completely alien, with much of the flora quickly surpassing from a structured green to an array of vibrant yellows, blues, and reds.. The striking colors spanned all the way up to the tops of gnarled trees, whose trunks were twice as wide as the Delphox was long. In just this one scene, there was at least a hundred different species of plants and fungus--but not a single trace of a pokemon. And while the temperature was considerably higher than out in the plains, a gust carried with it a chill that made the fur on the back of Panne’s neck stand on end. Not even the great barrier that encircled this place could even hope to keep the demon out. A twinge of despair got caught in her throat, her fists balled up tighter than her stomach. 

"That's incredible!" Mawile gasped as she whipped her bag around and pulled out her journal. "I know you guys already did a report on this place, but, wow! The only other place I've seen a transition that drastic was Destiny Tower!" 

Vallion was the first one to step forward, craning his head to peer into a cover of roots. A slow sigh fell from his mouth as Panne made her way over. It was the first time he had really shown any emotion since this morning, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. In the tree's clutches laid an Ambipom, motionless and limp--long gone before the Society ever reached here. There were no signs of a struggle at all, just the low-hanging jaw of a creature that had desperately tried to breath when it could not. It must’ve tried taking shelter from the storm instead of running away. 

The Servine twisted away from the sight, eyes shut tight. "Don’t look, It's just another one." 

"Val, we can-" Panne began to speak, but was cut off as Vallion let loose a frustrated wail that echoed over the wind. He unraveled his vines and lashed out against the tree, somehow figuring out how to harden the ends into short blades as he gouged into the wood over and over. With one final stab he plunged his vines deep into the bark. Panting, he put his entire body into pulling away, fresh sap oozing to the surface of the wound. 

"How much longer does this have to go on?!" the Servine screamed, to the very tops of the trees. He turned himself viciously towards the others, "What do you think happened to the village we passed through? How much harm do you think we caused just by being there in the first place? This entire trip, all we've done up until this point is put others in danger! Just look at this place, Listen hard and tell me what you hear!" 

The leaves roared in unison while branches swayed in the harsh wind, which whistled as it snaked through the terrain. Hundreds of raindrops fell as the seconds passed. Panne had heard these sounds for so long that none of them really registered until she concentrated. Other than that though, she couldn't really hear anything. "Nothing?" 

"Nothing!" Vallion confirmed at the top of his lungs. "Where do you think we are right now, What are you supposed to imagine when you think of a jungle? Noise, Life, Activity! That village was at the very edge of a jungle and it was still exploding with energy! Even after we left, right when the Spiritomb had just begun to affect everyone, there was still so many pokemon! Even the forests on the Water Continent were far more alive than this, and apparently those were supposed to be quiet! Just... look at this place!" When he turned to the way forward, the offending silence fell over them. "It's empty. No birds, no bugs, nothing. This place is supposed to be some kind of oasis, isn't it? Look at what the bastard's done to it!" 

The constant pattering of the rain sounded more like a hundred malicious chuckles than it did an ambience. "I'm going to kill that thing," she said with a strange degree of calmness, despite the vitriol in her voice. The emptiness should have made her furious, or perhaps even furious at herself for not caring as much as she should’ve, but there was hardly any emotion at all in her declaration. 

Hydreigon cut through the deafening quiet. "You two can feel it, can't you? Your connections to this place is showing--burning through, even. This used to be your home." 

"No, it wasn’t. I am not Mew," the Delphox staunchly replied, still staring towards the heart of the jungle. 

"And nor is this Vallion the original, but he seems to feel the same way. A tiny part of you that you've forgotten still lingers in this place, and it recognizes that there’s more wrong being done here than you realize. Would you still be able to read the tongue of the last era if there wasn't a droplet of Mew still soaked into your soul?" The dragon's six wings beat in unison like a judge's mallet. "This is Mew's home. Even if the tragedy doesn't quite strike the same chord as it would if the same happened to Serene Village, a glancing blow can still be felt, can't it? You are not her, no, but you can understand what this situation means to her." 

Vallion sniffed the air, breaking free of the trance. "Then we have to find Mew." 

Hydreigon laughed. "I was counting on it, really. We'd never find where your original body is buried on our own, and we'll definitely need the help once I initiate the final confrontation. We have the rest of our plan laid out, all that's left to do is execute it." 

"This is also the part where we look for emeras, right?" Volcarona said as she lifted off the ground, shaking countless droplets from her wings. "If there's no other way I can help besides by covering a larger area, I'd be glad to do at least that! If there’s anything I can do to stop being so useless I’ll do it!" 

"Oh no, we are going to stick together! Absolutely no splitting up, at all!" Ampharos demanded, a rare voice for him to use. "I don't care how much ground we can cover, this dungeon is far too active to risk getting lost in. There's no telling what could happen if one of us got separated from the group for too long, but I imagine it would look something like that poor creature beneath the roots. This is a team effort, understood?" 

"Yes, chief!" everyone said in unison, the response ingrained into their throats. For the first time since the expedition began, the entire Society donned the powerful artifacts that they had collected over the years. Nearly their entire museum of ancient looplets was on display upon necks in the matter of a minute. The only exception was Altaria, who instead donned her favorite gilded looplet for the occasion. Vallion took a moment longer to glare at the vibrant blue brace in his vines before snapping it into place. He shuddered as the brace's power shot down his spine, then looked up with that same determined face he always made. Panne glanced away before her loneliness could take hold, her own looplet tightening in tandem. 

Dedenne stood up on Ampharos' shoulder, an emera brace etched with sapphire waves around her waist. The fairy cleared her throat and puffed her chest out. "Alright! We’re finally getting into something that isn’t just walking! I thought I was going to die of boredom before the Spiritomb could ever kill me!” 

With a confident grin, Ampharos spoke up. "Now, in addition to finding Mew, we're going to be searching for emeras that might help us take down the Spiritomb in the coming fight. Defensive, Offensive, Utility-- it doesn't matter so long as it plays a vital part. And I believe we're going to need at least one Awakening to add to Hydreigon’s ritual, correct?" 

The dragon nodded. "I have all the other ingredients and incantations ready besides that." 

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's be off!" With a wave of his arm, Ampharos raised his head high and started forward. Everyone fell in line behind him, marching as they have been for days, but with renewed meaning to their stride. Panne pulled her fingers out from beneath Vallion's scarf and idly adjusted her looplet as her heart started to pound. She steadied herself with a slow breath and glared into the dense weeds as she walked. They really shouldn’t have much of a problem finding emeras in a place like this. Some of the plants here practically breathe magic. 

Indeed, the first crystals ended up appearing no more than five minutes after they had taken the plunge into the jungle. They turned out to be nothing special, certainly not to the caliber of what was required for the upcoming battle, but seeing them at all was at least a boon to their morale--especially with how heavy the atmosphere felt. It had gotten so bad that Panne started to get the same feeling she associated with dead ruins, like there was a history to this place that had already been buried and forgotten. The occasional drained pokemon laying motionless in the detritus didn't help her shake the sensation either. 

The farther into the jungle they traveled, the more vertical it dared to become. Nonsensical slopes and sharp twists sought to make travel more difficult, and while the flora did its best to adapt, scars of dark soil and mud ran up and down the cliffs where it had changed all too suddenly. Though irritating, the obstacles failed to impede them in any meaningful way. The Society pressed onward, slowly but surely gathering up the tiny boosts of power they needed. Panne even managed to find a Sun's Blessing emera hidden in the colorful maw of a pitcher plant. She immediately popped it into her looplet, but it seemed only a single emera of its kind couldn't break through the clouds on its own. 

"How can you tell these things apart, anyway?" Vallion asked as he glared through a Burn Guard crystal. "I get that they're different colors, but how are you supposed to tell one green from the next?” 

"By looking closer," Panne explained, leaning in to point at the emera. "There’s lots of little deformities and colors that you can read. Some are a little more obvious than others, I guess, but you’ll get the hang of it again.” 

The winding passages continued to grow even more convoluted, almost to the point where it would have been faster if they started to climb . However, their resources were beginning to pile up at the same time. Everyone had at least one emera in their braces, and Panne was finally given one of the most important tools in fighting the Spiritomb, Type Bulldozer. With one tiny click beneath her chin, every defense the demon had built up against her was obliterated. The black water that used to douse her flames would instead end up boiling away in their heat. The Delphox clenched her fists against the excitement, a smirk on her face. 

Yet Panne felt her confidence melt away as her breath became mist. In the matter of moments, a high-pitched howl echoed throughout the jungle while a surge of wind blasted into them. Already close together, the Society all turned outward and braced themselves against the overhang of moss and vine they were walking along. Mismagius struggled to call out, not that they needed the warning anymore. Down the ledge and deep within an overgrown gully came an ear-piercing screech. The Delphox immediately grabbed Vallion by the back of the neck and pulled him low. The dark pulse wasn't aimed at their heads, however--she felt the loose soil start to give way beneath her feet. Without any roots to hold up the sodden earth, it quickly started to give way. There was a scream as an entire chunk of ground slid away. 

Kadabra's hands reached out for anything to stop herself, but ended up finding the very dirt that fell with her. Panne lunged for the psychic type. Their hands met, but the Delphox had stepped forward onto crumbling earth, and soon they both had tumbled over the edge. Vines wrapped around Panne's waist and pulled, all the while she clamoured through her own mind for a way to levitate Kadabra back up to safety. A dark fog rolled in like a flood from the canopy and crashed into the cliffside, burning at her eyes and clawing at the insides of her throat. Even the shouts of her friends were deafened by the mist. Still, she refused to let go. 

Just as an electric sensation washed over the Delphox, a massive explosion went off behind her, reverberating through her bones and briefly dispelling the darkness with one incredible white flash. The fog retracted into the gully below with one huge swirling rush, yet it did not leave empty handed. An invisible force grabbed Kadabra and yanked her down, easily pulling the Delphox with it. No matter how hard Panne tried, she couldn't concentrate hard enough to use her telekinesis. She braced herself for impact. 

 

Part 2

Panne fell through the open air, desperately hoping the sheer density of the jungle would catch her fall. She instead smacked every branch and flipped over every web of vines on the way down, lost in a twirl of dull pain and disorientation. When solid ground finally approached, it was an unpleasant cushion of deep mud and freezing water. Breathless beneath the surface, Panne pushed herself up with a jolt, hacking up a blob of dirt. The same set of strained noises came from further down the creek. When the Delphox finally wiped the mud and tears from her eyes, she could see that Kadabra made it through alive as well, though in a similar state as her. Both the black fog and the feeling of dread it brought had disappeared entirely. 

The gully was far larger than Panne had expected from her view at the top. The shallow rapids she had landed in spanned its entire width, its gravel shoreline completely drowned beneath the floodwaters. Judging from the retaining walls, there was a good chance this stream wasn’t supposed to be even a sixth of this size. "Oh, jeez," the Delphox gasped, brushing off her shortened dress. A third voice rose up behind her, hacking and sputtering just the same as they had. She whipped around, recognizing the voice immediately. "Val! Val, Are you alright? How did you end up down here?! I felt you let go!" 

Vallion staggered through the water, spitting the last bits of muck from his mouth. He gave a weak smile. "I did let go! I just- I just jumped in after you anyway!" 

"What?!" The Delphox grabbed him below the looplet and started to shake his whole frame. "You dummy, why would you jump straight off of a cliff?! In what universe would that actually be a good idea?" 

"I-I just thought that the Spiritomb was going to be down here! I thought that three people fighting it off would be easier than two." The Servine wrapped his vines around her wrists and held them away. 

"Guys!" Kadabra shouted, pointing straight towards the sky. Oh right, The others were still up there! Panne shored up a huge breath to shout up at her friends at the top of the cliff, but let the air seep back out through her teeth as she glanced up. The ledge they had fallen from was nowhere to be seen. In fact, there weren't even any cliffs anywhere--only a barrier of tall trees and the two banks of the stream, which were less than five feet high at most. "Guys, where are we?" the psychic type continued as realization dawned upon the rest of them. 

The Delphox waded through the icy rapids and pulled herself up onto solid ground, a perplexed expression stuck on her face and a sigh lodged in her throat. She sat against the trunk of a tree with her feet dangling over the side, resting her elbows on the thick roots that spread around her. "Hmm. Yeah, that's a pretty good question. I sure hope nobody thinks we’ve hit the bottom and died." Panne reached into her bag and felt for her gadget. She flicked the switch a few times, hoping for a flash of blue light. Yet the only thing she received was a few tired fizzles within the rain-streaked orb. "Oh, dammit! This is the absolute worst time for Volcarona to be right about battery meters!" 

Vallion hoisted himself up the side with his vines, Kadabra following shortly afterward. The Servine surveyed the heavy foliage beyond the ridge and ended up sliding down against the same tree, exasperation under his breath. "Did the dungeon move out from under us or something? I coulda sworn…Maybe it has to do with what Hydreigon said, about how this place used to be our home. Maybe the jungle kinda recognizes us too." 

"I wouldn't doubt it, but I’m kind of hard-pressed to believe that a mystery dungeon could ever be kind to someone. You saw how many narrow paths we were forced to take, right? I don’t even think it’s our fault either. This storm’s got everything all screwed up." Panne shut her eyes and concentrated on the sound of the rapids. "We’re going to have to keep pushing through. Mew will only ever hang out in incredibly inconvenient places, so I’m sure she’s in the center of it all." 

"But we could be closer now, right?" Kadabra suggested, a hopeful smile forced onto her face. 

"Or we could be farther..." After a quick stretch, Panne shrugged and pushed to a stand off of the roots. "No, you're right. I shouldn't be so pessimistic about it, now we get to cover twice as much ground as before. So let’s get moving before the Spiritomb finds us again.” 

The search resumed, though with far less fervor. The terrain had taken to a much more forgiving form than before, consisting mostly of giant fern bushes and old fallen trees spread across short hills. Even the storm seemed to have calmed down, though with the lack of wind came an ever greater sense of emptiness. Where did all the wildlings run off to when they fled? If there are pokemon who have lived in this dungeon all their lives, what’s the first place they go to when home is no longer an option? It’s not like they just disappeared or died--there’d be a lot more bodies along the jungle floor if that was the case. Panne shook the thought from her head and pressed on. It took less than thirty seconds of travel before something caught Panne’s eye. “Oh! Check that out!" The Delphox shoved her arm past some brambles and yanked out a displaced twig. She held it in the light, turning it over in her hand and feeling its weight. "I guess being positive actually works! It's... not what I need, I don't think, but at least it's something. I'm sure I can figure out something to do with a wand that slows stuff." 

There were plenty of emeras along the way, and with much more choice now that there were only three braces to distribute across. Panne had only just settled for a few basic offensive crystals when she caught a brilliant green in the hollow of a huge stump. As the Delphox swiped it up and examined it more closely, her heart sank straight to the bottom of her stomach. All the markings spoke of an emera she had always been told to avoid for the damage it caused to the user’s body. No matter what people referred to it as, Panne couldn’t help but call it Go For Broke. She held the emera up to the sky as her ears folded backwards. The scarf on her wrist started to itch. 

"I don't know, I just..." Kadabra's voice startled Panne enough that she jumped a foot in the air. While the psychic type searched for the end of her thought, the Delphox quickly shoved the poor decision into the back pocket of her bag. "I feel like it's my fault that we're down here by ourselves. I'm the one that fell, you guys were just trying to catch me. I'm seriously so sorry, guys." 

"It's nobody's fault but the Spiritomb. It came out of nowhere, how would you ever predict that happening?" Panne asked as she swallowed the lump in her throat and started forward once more. 

"I could have easily predicted that beforehand! If I had just looked in the right places in my clairvoyance, I'd have seen this and happening and we could have avoided getting into trouble at all! That was the only job I was given and I’ve already messed it up!" 

Vallion inserted himself into the conversation. "Why don't you just use your powers right now, then? You could predict when we're going to meet up with the others again. That way we'll at least have a sense of how long we're going to be out here." 

The psychic type stuttered a moment before she fell silent. With a tiny nod, Kadabra came to a stop beside a puddle that had formed in the side of a rotting trunk. She placed her thumbs to her temples and closed her eyes, opening them only when she blew into the surface of the water. The wind had come to a complete stop. 

Panne found swaying back and forth, switching her balance from one foot to the other. She began panting for breath like she was at the top of a mountain, yet still she felt starved for oxygen. What the hell was Kadabra even doing? This was only going to draw the Spiritomb right to them! The Delphox balled her fists as she glared daggers at the back of the psychic type’s head. What right did she have to put Val in so much danger? 

With a sudden shout Kadabra jerked away from the puddle. She gasped like she'd been holding her breath the entire time. "No! It's not the- we're- oh god. That's the Spiritomb. The first thing we meet out here is the Spiritomb. I didn't look past that part, I couldn't. Sorry." 

The Delphox forced herself to relax. The pent-up aggression faded as she exhaled through gritted teeth, but in its place came both confusion and caution. "I'm not sure what I expected. It would have been more surprising if that wasn't the case, to be honest." 

"It's fine. You did what you could, and now at least we know what to expect." Vallion shot a smile towards Kadabra, then turned his nose towards the path they were originally walking. "We should get as much done as possible before then." 

Ever since then, the aura of emptiness that used to permeate the jungle had been replaced with one of imminent danger. Panne saw flashes of black appear beyond her field of vision, little warnings that something was watching them more closely than before. The temperature had dropped to the point where she could see her breath once more. Every once in a while she'd grab at her chest as short bursts of emotions appeared out of thin air. One moment she'd fight off the urge to lash out and shout to the heavens, and the next she'd be struggling not to cry. Her throat felt fine though, as there were no signs of the Spiritomb’s possession. With every repressed outburst the Delphox felt herself grow more paranoid. There shouldn't have been anything wrong with her at all! 

"Hey Panne?" Vallion said as he ducked past a fern’s leaves. "What kind of mood are you in right now?" 

Terrible, she thought. "Passable. Why?" 

The Servine stared straight ahead on their path without another word, blinking away at the raindrops that landed in his eyes. It was another minute before he spoke up again. "Because I’m about to make it worse. Look, I know this isn't the right place, and I really know this isn't a good time, but there might not be another chance for me to ask. Kadabra, why do you like me?" 

"What? I--I--What?!" the psychic type stuttered. Panne's back immediately tensed up. 

"I know why Panne loves me, I've known that almost since I woke up in this body. What I still don't know is why YOU love me, and I feel like that’s an explanation I need to hear." Vallion's expression turned fierce, the same as when they first entered the jungle. 

Panne's face contorted into a scowl. "Is this really the time to be asking that? You couldn't at least wait until we met up with the others and set up camp?" 

"No, I seriously can't wait," Val replied breathily. "I've been thinking about this for a while, but if we're going to have to face the Spiritomb soon then I want to clear this up now. If I don't, it'll be too distracting." 

“Distracting?!” The Delphox shook her head, the panicked swell of emotion her own. "Why would that ever be a thing that distracts you? We’re going to make it back to the others--just wait until then! None of us are going to die out here!” 

"I know, I know! It's not about that, though! I really just want some clarity before I have to stare down that damn ghost again. I want to know more about who I was, and I want to learn it from more people. Please, it's only a little conversation, and I promise we'll never have to have it again. I just need to understand a tiny bit better." 

Kadabra glanced back and forth between Panne's glowering and Vallion's determined glare. She crossed her arms and looked towards the ground, trying to withdraw from the situation as much as she could before eventually sighing in defeat. There was nowhere else to go this time. The psychic type spoke up in a quiet voice, "...Okay. Um. Panne, please don't be mad at me. I wouldn't-" 

"Just go on, He asked for it." Panne waved her hand and kept her eyes dead-set on the path forward. 

With a gulp and a slow breath, Kadabra began. "If we're really doing this, then I should at least start where it matters. I was an Abra when the calamity happened. My family lived along the north coast of the Water Continent at the time, so we ended up getting attacked by Yveltal just after you guys were. There was no warning or anything, just some loud crashes and yelling and it was already almost over. I was way too slow to escape, but my big brother managed to stall Yveltal long enough for me to teleport away. When I came back later, my entire family was just a bunch of statues, and my brother’s was smashed to pieces. 

"Even after you fixed everything, things never really went back to normal for us. My brother was basically the pin that kept everyone together. After he died, there was no one with any sense left to deal with all the grudges and fights. It got so bad that they were on the verge of killing each other for such petty arguments. I didn't feel all that much better after I left though, I was just as alone then as I was once the calamity was over. For a while it honestly seemed like I was going to wander through the wilderness until I let myself die--at least then I might've been able to see my brother again." 

Kadabra shuffled over the underbrush like she had nearly tripped. "Sorry, I'm getting off-track. When I learned about the Expedition Society a some time later, I decided that I was tired of being lonely and traveled to Lively City to join. To be honest, I didn't think you guys were going to take me. I really didn't have any skills or talents before this, and who would want to feed somebody so useless? That's why I was so surprised when Ampharos almost immediately found a place for me. Everyone ended up being so nice and kind and--and I even got my own room to stay in... After a while I started to feel like I had finally found somewhere I could be at home again, even if my job was just to deal with paperwork and visitors. 

"That was when I... started to think about Vallion, I guess. It was just the way you acted at first-- all aloof and quiet, but you always cared a lot more than it seemed. It reminded me a lot of my brother. You were one of the first people I even saw when I walked up to the compound, and I probably wouldn't have worked up the nerve if not for that. There's just so much of you that fell into the right places, and god I was already so lonely at the time that I couldn't help myself. It was hard to get to sleep at night without letting those stupid thoughts float through my head." 

The psychic type breathed heavier and heavier. "All of this makes me seem so desperate, doesn't it? Panne, I- I'm so sorry! I never wanted for this to get out of hand. You have every right to hate me, there's nothing I could possibly say that would even come close to excusing how I feel! He's like some fairytale hero that I can't stop wishing would've been there to help me... I'm so sorry!" 

The shadows cast by the sprawling networks of topside roots grew rigid. It was like the jungle was holding its breath, waiting anxiously for each moment to pass into the next. With Kadabra's last apology left to hang in the air, Panne could no longer bear the silence. "...You've never told anyone where you came from, have you?" 

"No, I've never really wanted to talk about it. This is the first time," when Kadabra spoke, it was obvious she was on the verge of crying. “Most of that probably didn’t have anything to do with what you asked, I don’t know.” 

Now it was Vallion who stared at the ground as he walked. "So that's why you like me, then?" he said. 

With a sniffle, Kadabra nodded. "I don't think anything else has ever made me feel as happy as you do. You're the reason I get out of bed in the morning. You're the reason I even have a bed to get out of in the first place. That's why it hurts so bad! I've tried for so long to stop feeling the way I do for you, but dammit it's like trying to gouge my own eyes out! You're amazing and wonderful and I want to be near you and be your friend but every single damn time I get this stupid feeling in my chest that ruins everything!" 

"Shh!" Panne signalled for them to stop with one arm and reached for her wand with the other. A dark fog slowly began to waft in from the direction she had just seen a flash of motion in. Without a gust to carry it, the mist could only creep towards them inch by inch. "It's here, isn't it? The spot you scried to?" 

The psychic type gasped, their sobbing cut short. "Oh no! I wasn't paying attention, I- I'm sorry, this is-!" 

"Quit apologizing! We've got worse things to worry about!" The Delphox brought a flame to the slow wand's tip and aimed it towards the thick of the fog. Before she could even think about retreating in the opposite direction, the mist wrapped around and started to swell up from behind. The storm's winds returned all at once, along with an incredible downpour that forced her to lower her head. A low rumbling shook the very earth beneath her feet, and a shudder shot down her spine when she realized it was the Spiritomb's growl. 

In an instant, a black mass crashed into the Delphox, enveloping her in its freezing embrace. She was shoved into the mud under the Spiritomb's heavy manifestation, her every sense of balance destroyed. Though every part of her was pinned, the gasp stuck in her throat started to crackle and pop with energy. Panne blew fire with all the might her lungs could muster, and just as she had planned, her emeras did the rest of the work. Rather than fizzle uselessly in the thick liquid, her flames burst through the Spiritomb like a volcano. She broke free of the demon's weight as it recoiled, and with her freedom let loose a bolt of fire from her wand, causing it to retreat all the way back into the mist. 

"Go!" Panne shouted as she scrambled to her feet. She grabbed Vallion by the vine and charged into the fog behind them, all the while the Servine grabbed Kadabra by the wrist. The Delphox immediately regret her haste as she accidentally gulped down entire lungfuls of the stinging vapors, struggling not to cough. Blind, deafened, and desperate, they dashed through the dense thickets of the jungle without slowing, plowing through entire bramble patches as the Spiritomb's choir of roars echoed from all directions. 

It was only apparent they had broken through the fog when light poured across her eyelids. Panne wiped at her eyes with the bend of her wrist, but it did little to clear her vision. The bed of thorns ended with a cliff of mud twice as high as she was tall, and yet was wide enough that she didn’t even bother trying to look for a way around. The Delphox released Vallion's vine to sift her hand across the undergrowth. "It's too steep! I need a branch or--or anything! Hurry!" 

"I still can't see anything!" Kadabra was forced to shout over the wind. The storm raged harder than it had in days. Flurries of hail swept almost horizontally through the trees, blasting anything and anyone in their path. 

"Just look with your hands!" Panne winced away as she touched what she thought was an icy pool, but she soon felt the liquid wash over her feet instead. The sound of rushing water was barely audible above the typhoon. Before she knew it, the black water was already up to her ankles. "We're out of time, I need something now!" 

Vallion screamed above the din. "No, we can- Get over here!" A vine wrapped around the Delphox's waist and yanked upwards. A yelp escaped her throat as her feet left the ground. Her claws dug into the wall of the cliff before she could crash into it face-first. "Up here, I can pull us up!" The Servine shouted from above, his silhouette wrapped around the base of a dubiously thin tree trunk. Kadabra blindly clamoured beneath her as the flood continued to rise. After a few rapid blinks, she could see tendrils start to form behind the psychic type. 

Rather than give a warning, Panne swung around in Vallion's grasp until her wand arm was free. The Servine hardly had the chance to protest before being interrupted by the boom of her crimson flames. Bursts of hot steam sprayed in every direction as her emeras ate through the Spiritomb's body. As soon as she had clambered up the lip of the cliff, all of her focus turned to a desperate attempt at telekinesis--but even in as dire a situation as this, Panne could do little more than tug at Kadabra while Vallion did all the work in pulling her up. 

"Why... Why can't I...?" Something moved in the corner of her eye--something atop the cliff with them. The Delphox only just turned her head before something cold wrapped around her neck, then her arm and her leg. They yanked hard, knocking her off balance at first, then dragging her away through scraping bushes. She grabbed at the tendrils, but it was like trying to hold a stream of water. The Tempest Looplet tightened as she built up heat in her palms. Dispelling the bonds was as easy as three tiny puffs of red fire, but their purpose had already been served. After jumping to her feet, Panne glanced around the deep brush with fire still dancing about her fingers, but there wasn’t even an adversary to fight. Once the tendrils dissolved into the mud, the only thing that gave away the Spiritomb's presence was a constant sense of unnatural dread. 

Panne squinted her eyes against the weather and saw what was wrong with the scene--something that didn't bend in the wind. A Snivy stood like a stone statue behind a spotted curtain of ivy leaves, eyes so fierce that it was a wonder she didn't immediately see them. All breath left her lungs as she picked out the patterned green scarf around its neck. The storm roared and thrashed and rampaged all the same, yet it felt as though her blood was frozen in her veins. She tried to blink the dream away, hoping to wake up in the tent safe and sound, only to find that the only heaviness in her eyes was the one caused by the wind. The numbing chill, the sting of her soaked fur, the image standing before her--it was all as real as it could possibly be. 

It wasn't until a series of muffled shouts erupted behind her that Panne was able to break out of her waking trance. Tracers from wayward psybeams shot by her head, and when she turned around, Vallion's vines came within a foot of her face as they carved through more of the black tentacles. Kadabra made sure the ambush was quelled by firing three more beams into what was essentially already a puddle. When Panne looked back at the fake Snivy, there was only the violent shaking of an empty thicket as it was gradually torn up. 

"Panne!" Vallion rushed to her side, but kept his eyes on the shadows that surrounded them. "We can't stand around for much longer! The water's still coming, it started climbing up the ledge!" 

After a short fit of coughing, the Delphox felt the eerie calmness in her chest melt back into fury. "I can't believe that thing...Every single day it somehow finds a way to make me hate it more. If it had a neck, I'd...I'd wrap my hands around it and dig my claws in and-!" She clasped her hands together in front of her. "I saw a Snivy with a goddamn Harmony Scarf around its neck! Why else would it even make something like that if not to screw with me?! It's been digging around in your memories like a filthy thief and wearing them like clothes!" 

The Servine paused. "I know, but we need to move now. I promise we'll have a chance to get back at it later." 

What once sounded like a small brook in the distance was now concerningly similar to the rolling crash of the ocean. Knuckles tight around her wand, Panne gave a tiny nod and started uphill past the point she saw the illusion. They pressed front-on against the sputtering gales that urged them towards danger. clinging to bark and vine alike for any semblance of stability. The flashes of dark in her peripherals started to happen every few seconds now, and she could've sworn there were whispers coming from the rushing water. Her chest tightened up with anticipation just seconds before an immense crack pierced through the cacophony. Somewhere behind them, a tree had given up the fight with the Spiritomb and came crashing down. 

The black flood moved more like a Muk than it did a tsunami, climbing up and around obstacles as it inched ever-closer. Unlike a Muk however, it spread in every direction and spanned as far as she could see until a rolling fog obscured it. Though by the vast sound of raging water,, there seemed to be much more to the Spiritomb beyond what she could see. The path up the hill made even more convoluted by the mist as a cloud of the murky vapor rushed out in front of them. They were forced to dip away and reroute once more, making their way over a quickly deteriorating jungle while the demon teased and jeered in its thousand voices. The Spiritomb could have seriously attacked them at any point, but it instead chose to play a cruel game of chase while laughing to itself. 

With the third cloud that came floating into their path, Panne screamed at the top of her lungs, "Do you think this is a joke, you think this is funny?!" She plunged her hand into the front pocket of her bag and felt for the smooth edge of an emera. With Vallion in her sight, there wasn't even a twitch of hesitation in her wrist as she popped Go For Broke into her looplet. A sudden tingling wave of numbness shot down her spine and spread through her extremities, but at this point it was no different than the adrenaline. A deep breath, a squeeze on her neck, and a swing of her free arm were all it took to dispel the entire cloud with a massive burst of heated air. A small vortex was created just from the incredible difference in temperature. "Is that funny enough for you, bastard?!" 

Though the demon continued to echo its own snickering, there never was another blockade of mist in their path. The series of hills ultimately lead up to the trunk of a massive mahogany tree, its trunk so ancient that colorful plants had sprouted from its knots. Panne growled as the wind ripped out several of the sprouts right before her eyes. 

"There's nowhere else to go!" Kadabra shouted as she circled around the tree. The fog surrounded them from all sides, even going as far as to stretch high above the canopy and spread into the sky. 

Vallion frantically took in the surroundings, his eyes darting back and forth. "We could keep climbing! I can get us up there, it'd be easy!" 

"And what would we do at the top of a tree?!" Panne brought flame to the tip of her slow wand, ignoring the electric feeling that sped from her heart all the way into her wrists. "We would get caught, we would fall, and then we would die! I would rather fight while we still have the chance rather than wait an extra two minutes to lose anyway!" 

Darkness fell as the dome of fog finally closed in from above. The Delphox could see maybe seven feet in front of her at best, and that was with the light of her wand. Tiny white dots quickly infested the shadows, more eyes than there were stars in the sky. Silence fell like a sucker punch. The wind ceased in an instant as the Spiritomb became quiet in the middle of a chorus of mocking laughter. Even the rain had stopped falling. She heard the lapping of waves against a shore so gentle that she winced from the sheer contrast. Without a shadow of a doubt, they were caught. Panne felt her spirit shrivel beneath the scrutiny of every soul that made up the Spiritomb, and among them were all of the fresh souls she had hardly thought anything of over the last two weeks. 

A pause filled the next few moments. The eyes glared, the waves crashed, and the bated breath in her lungs burned. What broke the tension was the anxious dancing of the red flame on her wand as it shot to the left without warning. Panne gasped and jumped backwards, narrowly dodging a tendril as it sliced through the air where her neck once was. Before she could even retaliate, the appendage retracted back into the darkness, and the fire started to behave like normal. 

"Screw off!" the Delphox screamed back, but to little response. She was hesitant to launch an attack of her own for fear of the mist crashing down on them, and for fear of the new limits of her own power. The eyes merely continued to watch their every cautious twitch. She had never seen the demon act so passively before. "What do you want?! Don't make me blast a hole in you, I'm not playing games!" 

"...I honestly feel like I'm about to die right now," Vallion muttered. 

The thunderous boom of a thousand voices spoke up all at once. "ABOUT TO DIE." 

Panne winced backwards with hands over her ears. The noise was like a knife scraping the insides of her skull, but the worst of it was the voice the Spiritomb used to make it. Countless impersonations of Vallion, all steeped in emotions stolen from memories that didn't belong to it. A prickling feeling surged up the Delphox's arm as she launched a crimson fireball straight up, the resulting blast four times the size she expected it to be. Not only did the explosion rival the ghost's volume, but the entire area and all the dread it brought was illuminated for everyone to see. Just beyond the mist was the unmistakable shimmer of a rippling body of water--in all possible directions, even above. 

"Oh no..." Kadabra gasped, clutching her stomach as she desperately fought back the urge to retch. "It's not a dome, It's a bubble..." 

A slow sigh left Vallion's nose. "Why? What's it waiting for? I don't understand why we're still-" 

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND," the spirits mimicked once more, the uproar just as loud and grating as the last, 

"Graah! Stop doing that!" Panne screamed, barely resisting the urge to throw another two fireballs towards the sky. She immediately regret saying anything as the absolute quiet was replaced with a low, resonating hum. The vibrations of it shook the very roots of her teeth and swam through her body in an almost hypnotizing way. The Delphox went rigid when she recognized the sensation, the same one she felt right before the Spiritomb tried to rend Vallion from his own body. But if there weren't any Unown around now, why would it need them to start the ritual? What was stopping it from just completing the ritual itself? "Now! We need to stop this thing NOW!" 

Like the drop of a pin, menacing shapes started to shift in the far reaches of her flame's light, all accompanied by the same unnerving sloshing sound. Panne watched as the fire whipped around like a whirlwind. All according to the premonition, water tendrils shot towards them from the ceiling of the bubble. She fended off the first few with just some flicks of her wrists and some arcs of flame, but twice as many joined the fight for each one she destroyed. There was far too many for the Delphox to manage by herself, even with the huge swathes of fire she could unleash. Too many, all moving too quickly. Though most lunged to wrap around her arms and neck, some managed to slash through her fur like knives--yet she couldn't feel any pain past the constant prickling. From her bound hands spilled a flood of red fire, popping and sizzling as it effortlessly bore through her restraints. 

Vallion stood before Kadabra, taking out tendrils with single lashes of his vines while the psychic type blasted all that came from behind with glowing bursts. The Servine struggled to keep up with the amount of targets that were coming in, seemingly relying on reflex alone to swat them away. Panne could only raise her arm before another six of the damn things pulled her back. However many she swatted away, droves upon droves would replace them in a matter of seconds. She didn't even have the opportunity to go all out before her wand was knocked away and her legs were pulled out from beneath her. The swarm encircled her like a rope of ice, stabbing and wrapping and slashing all the while. The Delphox started to take a deep breath, her tongue ready to scream for help, but the tendrils proceeded to crush her windpipe far worse than the Tempest Looplet ever could. 

Without any wind in her lungs, Panne could do nothing but struggle as the same flurry of motion surrounded Kadabra and dragged her to the ground. Only then did Vallion notice what had happened, but the very second he spent taking in the scene gave the Spiritomb enough time to strike him down with a blow to the back of his head. A pathetic murmur left her mouth as she tried to shout his name. Even though Panne fought and kicked and clawed with all her might-- even despite all this double-edged power that surged through veins--there was nothing she could do with empty lungs and bound limbs. 

The humming had gotten so intense that it shook the very earth beneath them and rattled the leaves in the tree above. A yellow glow had filled out the canopy, pulsing at the same rate as the glow that enveloped Vallion. The Servine struggled to rise, stopping halfway to stare at the silent audience of eyes that lined every inch of the walls. "You can't have it! We didn't come all this way for it to end like this!" Another jab to his stomach brought him low once more. Waves of desperation through Panne's body while several more tentacles descended, ready to intercept any movement he made. 

After a long fit of pained retching, Vallion somehow found the strength to push himself up. "I-I know that you think this will work, that everything will be better if you take Vallion's soul... but you're wrong. I've been alive in this world for less than three weeks and even I--ngh--know that. You can't even handle having his memories. What makes you think taking the whole thing is going to be any bit better for you?" 

"HIS MEMORIES," the Spiritomb repeated as a single jarring choir, still using the Servine's voice like a toy. 

"They don't belong to you!" Vallion screamed. A single golden cinder floated up from his body towards the aurora. "All the lives you took don't belong to you, either! You wouldn't even want to be Vallion anyway! Do you have even the slightest idea how important he was?! There are so many people that need him, so many people that count on him, every single day! If I can't even carry that burden, then there's no way in hell that you come the slightest bit closer! The only thing my dreams did was teach me that you're more beyond saving than when you started!" White began to intertwine with the yellow lights floating around him. 

"THEY DON'T BELONG TO YOU!" The demon bellowed back with every voice filled with fury. Panne felt the tendrils quiver with its rage, but she was quickly losing the will to stay conscious. Everything fell out of focus--everything except the Servine, who grew a brighter white by the second. 

In what seemed like a brief moment of indecision, Vallion glanced back at the Delphox. Despite her blackening vision, she could see into his eyes more clearly than anything else, and she noticed that they were changing shape. "I know...I know, but I'm trying my best to make things right! Vallion is neither of ours to take!" The golden light was completely shrouded by a blinding white. Larger and longer and taller he grew, his crumpled posture shifting into one of pride and defiance. 

Vines flashed through the air, decimating the Spiritomb's false limbs in the blink of an eye. Before it could possibly react, Vallion lunged across the jungle floor and extended his reach as far as it could go. A slash just above Panne's throat dispelled the tendrils that strangled her. Everything rushed back into her head at once as she sucked down a massive gulp of air. Rather than use it to breathe, however, she let the oxygen bubble and boil inside of her lungs, and belched an inferno that completely enveloped her in a cleansing plume. 

With her first real breath, the Delphox scrambled for her slow wand, took it up in both hands, and snapped the twig in half. Her flames caught on the magic that spilled out like a match caught to paper. Glittering smoke exploded up past the canopy. Just like she had hoped, the legion of tendrils that descended upon them moved at a fourth of the speed they normally would, making the attack trivial to defend against. Panne turned her eyes towards Kadabra, ready to blast away her bonds, but the psychic type was nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, an ear-shattering crash reverberated through her chest as the bubble began to collapse in on itself. She extended an arm towards Vallion before the wall of water came, only to find that he had disappeared as well. 

A tiny form smacked Panne in the back of the head. "Leaving!" it shouted into her ear right before a vacuum of atmosphere sucked her straight out of the darkness. 

 

Part 3

The Delphox had never been one to think of storms as calming--that had always been something Vallion would say instead--but as she choked and wheezed, her back to the mossy ground and her eyes glued to the dark clouds while they churned and broiled overhead, she found very little to complain about. Whatever section of jungle she had been whisked away to seemed mostly untouched by the worst of the storm. Though there was some damage, the more delicate plants still swayed on their stalks and vines. 

Panne lifted her head to a strange sound that came from just beyond a rise of boulders. When she snapped back to reality, she was quick to realize that it was Kadabra’s pained coughing in the distance. When she tried to stand however, a bolt of lightning shot down her spine and spread all the way through her fingers and toes. Then, she could hardly feel anything at all. After a great deal of effort, the Delphox managed to tear the Tempest Looplet from her neck. The numbness only subsided just enough to start moving again. 

"Kadabra!" Panne struggled to find grips on the mossy stones, the feeling in her fingers still mostly missing. After an unnecessarily long amount of time, she finally crested the rock and saw the psychic type curled up beneath the shadow of a fern leaf. "Kadabra, what happened?! Are you alright?" 

"Don- Don't worry about m-me," Kadabra croaked out between gravely gasps. "I'm fine. I just need...need a second. I don't know...how we got here." 

Another twitch of her ears pulled Panne's head to the side. Her hands rushed to cover her mouth as soon as she saw the Serperior. It took a great while for her to even recognize Vallion’s face, but sure enough, it was him. Vallion regarded her with a dead stare and breathed through an open mouth, obviously stricken with the same storm of questions as anyone else. Her legs moved towards him on their own As soon as he came into reach, the Delphox raised her hands to the sides of his head and brought him down to her level. His pupils sharpened as soon as their noses touched. She gently ran her claws against his cheek. concentrating as hard as she could to feel the delicate texture of his scales past the numbness, her heart aflutter with awe. Every Serperior she had ever seen carried a certain...aura with them--a presence that could either inspire or intimidate--but one never quite like this. Never one that made her heart feel like it was going to burst. 

"What an awful mess!" a squeaky voice called down from above. 

Panne was hesitant to pull away from the Serperior, allowing her fingers to slide from his face before she looked up. She didn't regret it for long. "Mew, finally! We've been looking for you all over!" 

The pink pokemon flitted through the air, twisting and turning her whole body with anxiety. "You think you've been looking for me? Do you know how hard it is to look for a monster that decides it wants to be everywhere at once? Really, really hard! I didn't even know it had a physical body at all until that huge burst of whatever-magic lead me to it! I can hear that annoying buzz for miles and-" she gasped and turned rightside-up. "Panne, is that really you?! Oh gosh, what happened to your skirt? Are your friends alright? I didn't realize!" 

Kadabra, her back still to the ground, raised her hand. "I'm fine. I still... need a second. I'm not used to suffocating yet." 

Panne looked away from Kadabra, biting her tongue. "Mew, we need your help," she continued whether the psychic type was lying or not. 

"You sure did! That thing was about to drown all of you! In itself... so weird." 

The Delphox shook her head. "No, I mean- Thank you for saving us, but we came here because we need your help for more than that! Val lost his memories to the Spiritomb that was attacking us back there, and we were told that his old human body was the only way we could get them back, but we can't get to it without your help." 

"I- wait. So this is..?" Mew flew down to meet the Serperior face-to-face. She contemplated his eyes for a few moments, sometimes twisting her whole body through the air to examine him from different angles. A flat expression dawned on her face. "Oh, I see! So you want to see my Val, then?" 

Vallion nodded. "You've already saved our lives so I feel bad even asking, but this is our only chance. If you could lead us there, Hydreigon would take everything from there. We only need to find it." 

"Aww, you didn't tell me old man Hydreigon was with you! That's one of the lamest pokemon I've ever met, and that's after hundreds of years of meeting pokemon!" Mew crossed her arms, turned her back, and scoffed. She flew over his head in an arc, only turning to look back at him while completely upside-down. "I'll only bring you there if you promise to take care of this stupid ghost-storm-thing. It's ruining everything and I want it gone." 

"I was planning on it," Panne answered through her teeth as she tucked her looplet away deep into her bag. "We can’t even start the ritual without that thing rearing its ugly head, and I’ve wanted it dead since I first found it. We-.. We were just separated from everyone else. That's why it caught us. Most of the whole Society is here, we were just cut off from each other." 

After turning upright again, Mew found her carefree smile once more. "I'll lead you back to them! Consider that one free of charge. The storm-thing won’t even let me get close to it, anyway. I’m just happy to finally see some other faces around here! Besides, it's been such a long time since I last visited that I probably wouldn't even recognize half of you! In fact, I already don't recognize half of you!" 

Having finally recovered from the fight, Kadabra hobbled forward to give her introduction. "Hi, I'm new. All I really do is stay..." she trailed off once she saw Vallion. "Oh god, is that what that light was? I-I can't believe it. Did you really just evolve in the middle of all that?" 

The Serperior slowly nodded as if trying to parse whether this was really a dream or not. "Yeah. That's how Panne saved us while we were on the Viridian too. I’m still getting used to it...” 

"It's always been a bad habit of ours to evolve in bad places, I guess. I’m so glad for that." Panne let her shoulders slump down, the tingling in her fingers finally subsiding. As bad an omen as it was, the relative silence of the empty jungle was something she welcomed with open arms now that she had heard it while alive. "I don't know if it's fate, sheer luck, willpower, or just from something residual in these scarves, but we've been saved twice in a single week by evolving right as we're doomed. The funny part is that we've done that like four or five times now throughout our lives. It's seriously actually funny, but I still can't manage to laugh at it. Now I just think about how we're out of chances to break ourselves out of trouble." 

"I don't think we'll need anymore chances after this," Vallion said as his expression hardened into the confident, stony visage that became a Serperior. Panne's stomach did a flip. "We've found Mew, and I'm sure the others have found an Awakening emera by now. We’re already so close, we can’t possibly lose after we finally all meet up again. I think the Spiritomb's the one that's run out of chances." 

Mew barely managed to stifle a giggle. "Come on! You can't just say something so cheesy after I saved your lives! I can't think of anyone else that would try to say something all cool and heroic after almost having their soul eaten by some crazy rain monster. Oh! We should probably start looking for everyone else before that happens to them instead. That would be pretty bad!" 

The Delphox looked back at Kadabra, and in receiving a tired nod, she motioned for Mew to lead the way. "I'll try to explain what happened in more than two sentences this time. It's kind of an exhausting story to skim through, anyway." 

 

 

"I hate you guys so much!" Floatzel's voice rippled over the receiver, his blurred face full of frustration. "This is the last time I willingly decide to babysit the house! Every single time I do, you people go off and make these incredible stories while I'm sitting here flipping through paperwork all day! I've missed Panne AND Vallion evolving now! Next time Jirachi's going to be the one stuck here, that's my order!" 

"Hey, you can't keep me down just because cool things happen around me!" Jirachi butt in front of Ampharos to get into the gadget’s view. 

"I so can!" the water type crossed his arms, sticking his nose up. 

"He totally can," Mew agreed from the back of the tent with a tiny nod. "You can't just horde all the cool stuff that happens from everyone else. Cool is something that should be distributed evenly and fairly. If you just kept it all to yourself, people will get bored of hearing you talk about it, and something can't be cool if nobody else but you thinks so. It's just common sense." 

Ampharos rolled his eyes. "Anyway, that's the general summary of our situation. We'll definitely be keeping tighter company after today, No more narrow cliffs, no more wild chases, and absolutely no more chains of falling pokemon." His lips tightened at the corners. "If I had been more wary of our surroundings, this never would have happened in the first place. I was the one that lead us into that trap. If not for the miracle that took place during that fight, I might have been responsible for losing Vallion altogether." 

"Chief, you can't go stealing all the blame now. Did you listen to a word Mew said?" Mawile pat the electric type on the back. “Besides, it’s not even really your fault.” 

"Look around you Amph," Floatzel said, his voice jagged with distortion. "That's the result of everything you guys did today. No matter how bad things seemed in the middle, this is the way it ended up. Everyone's safe and sound, Vallion's all grown up, and Mew's flying around the tent ready for tomorrow. I can't really think of many ways I'd rather have things go, to be honest. All that's left is for you guys to fight the Spiritomb, right?" 

Hydreigon murmured from the sidelines. "We have all the major components and factors covered. All that's left is to clear the way to conducting the ritual. I have our little gambit crafted, as well, so when the time comes to fight we'll have the abomination trapped in a corner at the drop of an orb." 

A low groan rumbled in Ampharos' throat as he glared at the lantern. In the silence, it was much easier to notice how peaceful this particular night was compared to the last few. The storm had died down to the point that it could easily be mistaken for an average summer’s shower. Panne had grown so accustomed to shouting over the wind in her own head that it was difficult to think straight now that things were calm. 

Ampharos quietly mumbled to himself before returning his longing gaze to the gadget in his lap. "You're right, there's no use in lingering in the past when there's so much waiting for us tomorrow. Goodness, I don't know what came over me. Our looplets are full and our cause is clear, I really shouldn't have been moping around to begin with." 

"Don't even get that way with me, you're not the one who's stuck beneath a paper mountain while Archeops gets to be off on an emergency call! The Viridian made it back in once piece, but all it did was bury me deeper in technicalities and fine print," Floatzel moaned, knocking a pen to the floor with a bored wave of his hand. "You get to scrap with a huge ancient ghost to save Vallion’s memories--isn't that reason enough to puff out your chest? And since you've found that extra Awakening, I'm sure the Dashing Wanderer will want to make his reappearance, won't he? It's definitely been long enough since we’ve seen him." 

"The 'Dashing Wanderer' better not plan to do anything stupid while he's transformed, otherwise he won't get to be the 'Dashing Wanderer' at all," whispered Mawile. 

"What a chivalrous rogue does all depends on the situation at hand." Ampharos cleared his throat. "Well, we should call it a night here soon, huh? This will be no easy battle, we'll need all the strength we can get before dawn. I say we ought to sleep while the hurricane’s not screaming in our ears." 

Before the line was cut, Floatzel picked up his own gadget and turned it to get a better look at the Serperior. "Hey Vallion. You're probably going to have your noggin screwed back in next time I see you, right? Good luck, and cut that damn ghost down a few notches!" With a click and a fizzle, the Connection Orb fell dormant. 

Though the tent was more packed than it had been in years, dialogue only came in short bursts, even with Mew’s energy among them. Panne found it difficult to let herself relax, her chest tight as if she were still anticipating the next twist. It didn't help that her heart paced faster every time she glanced over at Vallion, all coiled up in the same corner as always. Even as a Serperior, Panne could plainly see all the little qualities that made him her Val. Why would he ever not be the real Vallion? Even if he denies it, what did he think separated him from the person that gave her this scarf? After all, even after Dark Matter was dealt with and gone, the little Fennekin that set herself apart from the whole world still returned to Mew once the time came. Having no memories to recall was one thing, but there could only ever be one Vallion, right? 

The Delphox's claws worked at the knot of the scarf on her wrist, undoing the loops and retightening them over and over. Something still seemed wrong about all this. It wasn't Hydreigon that caused the feeling, that much she had already figured out. There was a chance it was still the Spiritomb putting doubt in her head, but the demon seemed far too preoccupied dealing with...something else. Everything was happening too fast, yet even when things were slow Panne still couldn't wrap her head what she needed to. There wasn’t much time left to piece things together, probably less than twelve hours by then! What could she manage to do until then? With a grumble in her throat, she rubbed at the bridge between her eyes. "Kadabra," Panne called for the psychic type not far across from her. It'd be too difficult to get to sleep if she didn't at least resolve something tonight. 

It took a moment for Kadabra to lift her head from her knees. Her immediate expression gave no hint of emotion, but she was curled up so tight that a Sandshrew would be jealous, and the skin around her eyes was red and puffy. "Hm?" 

"I don't actually hate you, just so you know." Panne fought the urge to look away, her eyes twitching up from the floor. 

Kadabra held her neutral expression, waiting even longer to respond the second time. "...Why not?" 

The question caught the Delphox off guard, making it even more awkward when she had to actually come up with an answer. "What? I- I don't know. Hate just isn't what it is. That's what I feel towards the goddamn ghost outside, and it's very, very different than the feeling I associate with you. It's more like...I guess I’m sort of scared of you in a weird way." 

"You're scared of me, Really?" The psychic type's voice was steeped in disbelief, almost to the point that she started to sound insulted. "I can't even imagine the reason why you would ever feel that way. I can barely shoot psybeams right, you can level an entire building in the matter of minutes." 

"No, it's not like that. I'm scared of you because... because whenever I see you around Val, or I start to- I start worrying that one day maybe he'll actually consider leaving me. Just you being near him makes my skin crawl." 

One deadpan stare later, Kadabra shook her head. "That's even more ridiculous than before, Panne. Why the hell would Vallion ever, ever even think of abandoning you? He came up with an entire courtship ritual and two real leaves from the Tree of Life just to say that he wanted to stay with you forever. I shouldn't even show up on his radar, much less be a possibility at all. I take what I can because I know it's all just a bunch of stupid fantasies. Why on earth would Vallion leave you?" 

"Because I'm not the same person I was eight years ago." The Delphox gave in to her anxiety and stared down at the tent floor. 

"So, who is?" 

"I just worry sometimes that Val might only be in love with the hero I’m supposed to be.” She shook her head, ears folded back. “Nevermind, it’s just stupid thoughts from the past now. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it right now. That's just why I've always acted the way I have to you, and... It was wrong of me. I'm really sorry," Panne bit her tongue, the words like jagged shards of metal as they left her throat. Why was it always that hard? 

The strangely gentle pattering of rain was the only thing to fill the quiet space as Panne tried her best to concentrate on something else. Most of the Society had already retired for the night, leaving just a few tired faces to stare past the lantern's light. It was difficult for her to understand how anyone could get to sleep so easily while they sat in the eye of the storm. The only thing worse than a pivotal battle was the anticipation. 

"Don't worry about it. This kind of stuff happens, and it's not like what I was doing was any better. I was just making it worse anyway," Kadabra finally responded, before she laid down with an arm beneath her head. "If everything goes right tomorrow, I'll be more than happy. I'd rather just focus on making that future happen, you know? Nothing’s going to change if you don’t make it happen." She closed her eyes, leaving her wisdom to linger in the air like the humid warmth.


	20. The Candle and The End

The heart of Serene Village still slept as the morning sun crept over the mountains. A crisp breeze drew waves over the lake, lapping at the reeds in an almost hypnotizing way. The Fennekin let herself concentrate on the sound as the truth soaked in, her eyes still recovering from the bright flash of Xerneas' departure. Ancient memories sprung forth in her mind like she had experienced them yesterday. They connected dots she wasn't even aware existed--a gentle journey of a revelation. The sharp twists of her past rounded out into a great curve, and though it should have frightened her to death, Panne merely stared off into the distance with reverent eyes as tiny flickers of light danced in her vision. 

There was a shuffling in the grass behind her. In the midst of the peace, a pang of sorrow erupted in Panne's chest. She glanced back at the Snivy, who stared up at her in worried confusion. A smile pushed its way onto her face, but it was only muscle memory. 

"What's going on?" Vallion said as he pressed up the slope, still a little clumsy from his slumber. "Is everything alright? I saw a light jump up into the sky..." 

"Nothing's wrong," The Fennekin replied, looking back to the sleepy town. "Come on over. It feels nice under the clouds." 

Conversation flowed, their hearts sung together like the best of friends. Panne recalled how many times they had met together on this hill as she stared upwards, trying to remember what the sky looked like during each encounter. Even while sitting by the Snivy, however, she found it difficult to stave off the most distant memories that kept popping up in her head. She hardly bat an eye when he finally told her what happened to humans who outstayed their welcome in this world, but the hole in her heart silently tore open even further. A tiny golden ember drifted towards the clouds, but Val was looking away at the time. 

The truth rested on the tip of Panne's tongue, and though she had finally gathered the courage to say it, something held her back. With all the insight that had been bestowed to her, the haze that descended into her thoughts was made all the more obvious. Something was odd, yet she couldn’t quite place what. The Fennekin sniffed, her narrowed eyes scanning the environment for anything that might seem off. She caught all the scents of the summer morning, but somehow she was still missing the most important one; Vallion was sitting right next to her, so why didn't she smell him? 

She turned to the Snivy in the hopes that he would know what was wrong, only to find a pang of horror block her windpipe when the same aura of uncertainty surrounded him. It was as if his features had somehow settled differently on his face. "Is something wrong?" Vallion said, but it wasn't quite his voice. Panne tried to blink the feeling away--shaking her head and rubbing her eyes--yet it only made the sensation worse. "Were you staring at the barrow again? You look like you've just seen a ghost." 

With a gasp, the nature of the dream unraveled in her mind. The scene melted away into blurry snippets of what was supposed to look like Serene Village, and the cold breeze became a frigid wind that rushed down her back. "You're not Val! I know what you are!" Panne jumped away from the Snivy, her upright body suddenly that of a Delphox once more. 

"What? Of course I'm Vallion! What's with you all of a sudden?" The mockery of her lover took a step forward, but she took two backwards in response. 

"Stay back!" Panne held her arms out in front of her despite knowing full well that she couldn't conjure a flame in here. "I'm never going to let you trick me, you bastard! I swear, this is the last time you're ever going to mess with my dreams! You'll be dead before the sun even starts to set tomorrow!" 

"Panne, I don't know what you're talking about! Please, just tell me what's going on!" The illusion took on an anguished expression, still trying its best to pass itself off as Vallion. "...You really don't think I'm myself, do you? Come on, you have to know it's me! Why would I ever lie to you about something like this?" 

A growl rumbled in Panne's throat. A sudden flood of tears blurred her vision. "Liar! I'll kill you for this, demon! I'll kill you for everything you've done to my Val! You're never going to hurt him again!" 

Like a mirror, the Snivy's eyes began to water. "You're scaring me! Panne, snap out of it! Why...why do you hate me? I just want to be myself again! That's all I've ever wanted... If you won't believe me, then...I'm all alone again." 

"S-stop!" The Delphox's voice cracked, her knees growing weaker by the second. "You can't fool me! The real Vallion is sleeping in the tent with me! You're not even an imposter, just a complete fake!" 

They extended a vine, only to wrap it around the Harmony Scarf that was around their own neck. "These are just like our old ones, you know. I spent so long trying to get them. Xerneas doesn't let anything leave the island, not even something as harmless as the sand on the beaches. I tried so hard to make my gift more special than ever, just like the old times..." 

"Enough! You can't keep this up!" Panne's claws dug into her palms, but she couldn't bear to turn away. "You're nothing but evil, worse than Dark Matter! At least Dark Matter was sincere in what it was! Y-you're just a parasite! If you cared at all, you would know that Val would rather die than let me be tortured like this! You would know!" 

"Is that really what I would want?" their off-key voice dripped with so much soft sincerity that it made Panne sick to her stomach. 

"I- I-" The Delphox went from brandishing her claws to clutching her chest. The air seemed to throb with her pounding heart, and each breath she took was twice as shallow as the last. She watched through a sheen of tears as the Snivy was enveloped in the same golden lights that were supposed to surround her. They blinked at her with puffy eyes. 

"I can go if you want me to," the mirage said, twinkling sparks radiating off of their body. "I would do anything for you. If you wanted me to leave, I would." 

Panne coughed as a fit of sobs wracked her frame. "You, you can't just-" It became too hard to speak, the clashing emotions that flooded through her body twisted in every direction. The Snivy turned away and stared up at the sunny sky as their form began to shimmer and fade. Her hand extended towards them, but the wind picked up just in time to blow them away like they were a mere pile of dust. The lights shot up into the clouds, and one by one they faded in the sunlight. Once all the tiny particles had dissolved into the atmosphere, there was nothing left but the peaceful morning. The Delphox collapsed into the grass and fell apart as the waves lapped at the shore of reeds. 

 

 

"Come on, guys, we're almost there!" Mew danced through the air, urging the Society forward through a terribly thick patch of foliage. The flora grew larger with every step they took towards the center of the jungle, and judging from the ten-foot tall blades of grass growing between pillars of roots, they weren't too far. Only a few drops of rain managed to trickle down through the massive filter that was the canopy, but it wasn't like there was much coming down to begin with. Even the wind was as tame as it had been last night. Panne bit her tongue in silence, knowing full well that the storm could only wane when the Spiritomb was holding its breath. 

"That's easy for you to say!" Volcarona complained, struggling to crawl along the jungle floor, her wings catching on every little snag that came her way. "I am so done with walking! If I ever complain about having to fly in the wind again, somebody smack me across the face!" 

"Don't worry, I promise to remember!" Jirachi shouted. 

Mew stopped at the base of a mossy trunk and sniffed the air. Her eyes narrowed towards the east. "Well if I could just figure out where the spot I'm thinking of jumped off to, you'll have plenty of room to be up in the air. Hmm...At this time of day...Does anyone know if it's low tide right now? Or if it's supposed to be a crescent moon tonight? I haven't been paying much attention to the sky in the last few days. You know what, don't even tell me. I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going." 

Panne's grip tightened around the gnarled branch she had tore from a fallen tree. It was more like a twig when compared to the limbs of the trees around her now, but she only needed it to keep her in the air when the time came--and that time was definitely coming soon. She was thankful to even have a pounce wand stashed away in the fur of her arm, but no amount of preparation was going to make her feel like she was ready. Her hand hovered protectively over the pocket in her bag where she hid the Tempest Looplet. It didn't matter how many advantages were stacked upon one another, it would only take a single mistake for everything to come crashing down on her head. She wondered how many of her friends were going to see the end of that day. 

Much to Panne's surprise though, the looming majesty of the deep jungle began to wane, as the plant life began to shrink back down to normal sizes. They had only brushed past the innermost flora by the time Mew finally picked up on the trail she had been looking for. An overflowing stream lead them down a series of hills not unlike the ones they were forced to scrape past yesterday, though a lot more forgiving still. Vallion seemed to have no trouble at all adapting to his new body, scaling the heights with such ease that Panne somehow felt impressed while floating effortlessly down the same drops. The Delphox forced herself to look away from the Serperior, but it was already too late to avoid the distracting heartache that followed. 

The foliage thinned even further, revealing several more streams flowing parallel to the one they followed. The waters eventually converged in a rocky crevice, where they were stained a rich orange from all the clay and debris that had been washed away from higher places. Though the sound of rushing water wasn't quite as inviting as it used to be, this stretch of river reminded Panne an awful lot of home, and by extension how much nicer things would be if she were dry and eating her father's cooking. A rumbling in her stomach agreed with the sentiment, the memory of expensive spices faintly lingering on her tongue. 

Was it getting brighter? Panne looked up from her feet just as Mew sighed with relief. Beyond the mouth of the muddy river was a clearing nearly a mile across. Strands of land pressed out into the basin like grasping fingers, and deeper still were little islands whose highest cattails were half-drowned. Unlike the rest of the world surrounding it, the clearing was almost completely devoid of trees apart from a few lonely saplings. A breath caught in her throat as legitimate sunbeams peeked out from behind the clouds, shining down as patches of light all throughout the clearing. If she squinted hard enough, sections of a rainbow revealed themselves just above the treetops on the far side. 

"This is where a big river runs that all the streams eventually meet up in, " Mew said as the Society emerged from the brush. "When it floods though, you basically only get a big swamp. I know there's just a bunch of narrow paths and islands now, but normally this would the perfect place to have a big fight like the one you guys want!.. Still, it's the most open space in the entire jungle just the way it is. Unless you guys wanna fight in the trees, this is where we're luring the Spiritomb to." 

"Funny enough, I kind of wish Floatzel were here," Dedenne muttered from Ampharos' shoulder. 

The Society stashed most of their equipment in the branches of the tallest tree they could find, keeping only the tools they'd use in the coming battle. As Panne pulled the Tempest Looplet from her bag, she made sure to hold it with her palm over Go For Broke. The last thing she needed was for Altaria to have a fit about how bad an idea it was to use such an emera. She clutched the brace beneath her arm as everyone went over their final preparations. Volcarona was overjoyed to fly around the clearing at her full wingspan, while Ampharos and a few others did stretching exercises at the water's edge. Mismagius stared off into the distance, as deathly quiet as he’d been since morning. Vallion fiddled with his looplet with a furrowed expression on his face, though she doubted it was the brace that was causing any of the issues he was dealing with. 

The air was clear, yet the Delphox still couldn't seem to catch her breath. "You sure you want to stay for the fight?" Panne asked the Serperior, her voice far softer than she intended it to be. "Hydreigon can still put you outside the arena spell if you want. The Spiritomb isn't just going to trap us this time, at the very least it’s going to kill us out of self-preservation." 

"I'll be fine," Vallion automatically answered, a twitch of determination in his brow. "I've never expected it to not try to kill us, so it shouldn’t be a problem. This time I think we're actually ready for it, I know I am." 

The Delphox bit her tongue. "I can't really carry you out anymore, seeing as my telekinesis changed in a weird way when I evolved, but I'll try to stick close, okay? If you're ever in trouble, just shout and I'll be right back down. We really do need to finally beat this thing, but you're still the most important part of this whole trip." 

"I know," he said unconvincingly. The dream from last night flashed behind Panne’s eyes. She huffed through her nose, caught in a losing battle with the urge to lunge forward and wrap her arms around him. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She had already told him how she felt over and over, and he had always given the same response in kind. Even if she said she loved him now, there was no way he'd think any differently. Her left hand worked at the knot around her right wrist, but she had no intentions of tightening it once it was undone. The scarf itself barely weighed anything, but it felt like she was holding a thousand pounds between her claws. 

Panne swallowed at the lump in her throat as she turned back. "Val, I have one last thing to ask before this." 

The Serperior tilted his head. "And what's that?" 

She held the scarf towards him, trying as hard as she could not to look pleading. "I know what you're going to say, but...will you please wear your scarf, just this once?" 

The brave posture Vallion had been working up for several minutes deflated like a balloon in less than two seconds. "Oh, Panne..." 

"No, don't say it!" the Delphox interjected, thrusting the Harmony Scarf towards him once more. "I swear this is something I really need, okay? It's not about which Val’s real and which one’s fake, alright? Only just until the end of this fight, and then I swear that you never have to wear it again if you don't want to." 

A tiny chuckle rose from his throat. "Oh geez, you sound like I did yesterday..." After a pause, the Serperior twisted his body so that the back of his neck faced her. The rush of relief weakened Panne's knees. "You're still barking up the wrong tree, but I guess this is fine." 

Panne had a great deal of trouble tying the knot she had only just undone, her fingers growing clumsier with each second she spent touching his scales. Even just feeling the heat he gave off made her anxious, enough so that she forgot the simplest of steps. She was practically shaking by the time Vallion pulled away. He regarded himself for a moment, then stuck out his core proudly like he had been given a role to play. A smile forced its way onto her face while she searched for something to say that was more subtle than what rushed to the tip of her tongue. "It...it looks really great, thank you so much." 

"Spiritomb's kind of like my own Dark Matter, isn't it?" Vallion coiled around himself as he settled back down, looking so goddamned picturesque that it hurt her heart. "...No, that still sounds too weird. Even while wearing the scarf, that's too weird." 

A shudder ran down Panne's back. In an instant she lunged forward, wrapped her arms around the Serperior, and buried her face in his neck. Even as she squeezed, leaning all her weight into his body, it was difficult to express how much she had been missing him. All the doubt and worry that the Spiritomb worked so hard to plant in her thoughts had been tossed aside in the wake of Vallion's physical presence. His scales, his scent, his breath--no matter what anyone said, he was right here, and that reality surrounded her like the way a flood soaked into every crack and crevice. Feeling him nuzzle her back even the slightest amount sent shivers of satisfaction down her spine, emerging from her body as a sigh that escaped past her lips. 

Vallion pulled away after a while, but the warmth of the embrace lingered like he was still right there. "You feeling better?" he asked. 

"Yeah..." Panne had to catch her breath. "Yeah. Okay, I think I'm ready now." 

"Okay, good. Come on, the others are starting to group back up. We’ll have to be together for when the Spiritomb comes." Side by side, they started towards the spot Hydreigon had gathered everyone. 

The dragon lead them deeper into the basin, along the veins of the land that it spanned . Muddy rapids rushed past on either side, at times carrying with it the soaked corpses of trees, uprooted as thin layers of soil were inevitably washed away in the storm. Panne squinted as they passed beneath a pillar of sunlight. She pulled the pounce wand from her fur and twirled it between her fingers, the absence of Val's scarf so blaring that she had to find other means to fidget her nervousness away. In her opposite hand she used the branch like a walking staff, but still kept her looplet between it and her palm, waiting for just the right moment to borrow its power. 

Only when they had nearly ran out of land to walk did Hydreigon stop. They pointed a mouth towards the ground and began to burn the grass away in a controlled stream of blue flames. The dragon mumbled something to themselves and flattened the charred circle even further. Once every little detail seemed adequate enough for the dragon, they dropped a red orb in the very center, its shape slightly oblong and its insides disconcertingly murky. "There. That should provide minimum room for error. We'll have to make do with just this one shot." 

"How can we be so sure that the Spiritomb's going to respond to our summons?" Mismagius asked, his voice laced with a frustration. "It's not like it hasn't heard us talking about it for the last week. Why would it willingly just fling itself into the most obvious trap that has ever been laid?" 

"Ah, that’s where you're mistaken," the dragon said with a thoughtful frown. "You seem to believe that this creature is entirely capable of rising above its animalistic nature, but I assure you it is not. Clever as it may seem, a century of its dark prison has not done it any justice. It still clings to the shattered psyches that made up its previous existence--and no matter how determined those psyches may have once been, they have been long lost to the void by now. A Mothim might breath and die for its convictions, but ever is there an allure to the flame..." 

Hydreigon motioned for Panne, Mew, and Vallion to all step forward, yet didn't look towards them to do so. "This shouldn't take too long at all. If anyone here is not prepared to engage the abomination, speak up now or you'll regret it soon enough." The Delphox glanced at the faces around her, but saw only tight lips where objection would have been. The silence that followed spoke of how long this had been coming. "Good. Panne, if you would just touch Mew's hand, I'll be able to begin." 

Panne did as she was told, stowing her wand so she could reach for the psychic type's tiny fingers. The dragon nodded. "The abomination channels its spells through brute force. It bends nature rather than allowing nature to bend for it. A creature pure from the Tree of Life, however, only needs but a pebble to set an avalanche in motion." Hydreigon leaned forward and poked both their foreheads with a single touch. There was hardly any force behind it, but Panne suddenly felt her stomach lurch as if she had been blown backwards. Within seconds, a golden light began to swirl around the point of contact between her and Mew. 

"Hydreigon?! What- What is this?!" Panne struggled not to pull away at the mere sight of the glow. 

"Relax, I'm not doing anything that's going to hurt either of you. All I did was cause a resonance--like ripples in a pond. Just think of it like ripples in a pond." Though every fiber of the Delphox's being--conscious or impulsive--wanted to tear her hand away from the pink pokemon, Panne forced herself to hold still. Whatever this was, it was for Vallion's sake. "Good, good. You're not going to be pulled back into Mew. The time when that was even possible has long, long since passed. I...admit that it uses the same process, though. I only needed some kind of catalyst, and there is little else available besides the spiritual conflict between two souls that were once one." 

"So it's like some kind of feedback loop?" Jirachi commented. "Aren't you essentially just creating an error or something?" 

The dragon shrugged, still eyeing the glow intensely. "If by that you imply something that's akin to heat being formed in friction, then yes., It's like that." 

Mew scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "It's more like something only a dirty old man would do, messing with other people's souls... Tsh." 

"Look here! If there was anyone living at all with the authority to cast magic of the soul, wouldn't you think it's the Voice of Life itself?" Hydreigon shook the distraction away, turning their middle head towards Vallion. "Nevermind all that. Vallion, wrap a vine around their hands and wait for me to pull them apart. The shockwave that will emit from the severed connection will draw the abomination here without a doubt." 

As the Serperior obliged, the same terrible humming sound that followed the Spiritomb’s rituals started to fill the air. Panne tried to control her breathing as best she could, but it was like trying to swim against a riptide. Every nerve in her body was wired to the point that she couldn't even think straight. The drone grew stronger, and with it came a feeling of vulnerability that carved its way into her chest. Just when it was about to become too much to bear, Hydreigon butt his head into her hand and knocked the connection away. In the span of a gasp, the sensation collapsed in on itself and disappeared into a point just beneath her throat. After that, all was simply normal again. 

"See what I mean?" said Mew with a shiver. "Only dirty old men would do something like that! It's just not right!" 

Vallion flinched away as if something had touched him from behind. He stared out into the treeline, eyes wide and pupils narrow. "It's already coming." 

The shadow of a dense cloud passed over them, and in that moment Panne felt her fur stand on end. She swiped up her makeshift staff, her fingers tight around the Tempest Looplet. It suddenly felt as though they were on a stage again, bright spotlights shining down on their heads. In the trees watched their judging audience, silently burning with hatred. The Society began to spread out, Volcarona and Altaria taking to the sky while everyone else formed squads and barked orders to each other. The Delphox, however, remained frozen in place. 

"Panne!" from over the vast distance carried Vallion's desperate voice. Even with the real Val standing right next to her, it carried on with its stupid trick! As if it had the slightest chance of it affecting her! The invisible eyes bore into her, yet she shook with anger and anticipation rather than fear. The only Vallion here was the one wearing the scarf around his neck! Eventually she realized that it was not solely her own fury that caused the ground to feel like it was shaking. A faint rumbling came from the jungle, followed by another mocking chorus. "PANNE!" 

"FUCK OFF!" The Delphox slapped the Tempest Looplet around her neck. Stinging electricity surged down her spine and jumped into her limbs, but quickly tapered off into numbness as she filled her lungs with empowered air. Across the water on a parallel strand, the crackling sound of mega-evolution gave way to Ampharos' confident shout. Altaria called down that she saw something crashing through the jungle towards them. Hydreigon hovered over their artificial orb with an expression of sheer concentration. 

When the Spiritomb arrived, it had long since abandoned any notion of subtlety. A tsunami of black water crashed over the eastern boundary of trees and immediately started to dilute the muddy canals with its presence. The dark beneath the water's surface traveled far quicker than the wave, bleeding into the center of the basin in a matter of seconds while the Society scrambled to the highest grounds they could find. Panne looked on in an adrenaline-lined awe. She knew it was huge, but how could it really be this massive now? How many pokemon did it kill to get to this point? 

"Now!" Hydreigon blasted the ground beneath them, and from the cloud of soil came an incredible burst of light. The Delphox was hit with a wall of pressure as the orb exploded outwards--the same kind of weird force that a mystery dungeon exerts when it shifts. By the time she blinked, the shockwave had already reached outwards into the jungle, and in the next second suddenly stopped with a resounding boom. A scarlet sheen rose up from every direction and met with itself at the very top of the sky, forming an incredible dome of shimmering color that turned absolutely everything in sight a deep shade of red. Panne remembered to breathe when the dragon shouted at the top of their lungs. "Only fifteen minutes, Go!" 

The demon didn't take too kindly to being trapped in the same way that it loved trapping others, letting loose a roar that sounded like a thousand tons of metal scraping against metal at the very bottom of the ocean. The blackness spread to the shore just before her, where the waves began to undulate in unpredictable ways. With a mere twitch of her psychic ability, Panne shot between Vallion and the shoreline, a deep breath in her lungs and a raging fireball in her palm. Before she could even strike however, a blue surge of energy shot from above her and blasted the anomaly into a splash of hot mist. 

"Fourteen forty-five!" said Hydreigon as they swooped down from above. "Panne, I'll protect Vallion, you need to focus on damaging the abomination!" Though there was an obvious twinge of apprehension in her chest when she looked back, the Serperior simply nodded and extended his vines. He didn't need to waste his breath to say that everything was going to be okay. 

Panne nodded in return and pointed her staff towards the sky. A tingling spread outward from the back of her neck as she launched into the sky, the complex act of telekinesis reduced to something that felt as easy as lifting a finger. The first thing she saw from the sky was the blinding flare Volcarona caused with a mighty series of flaps. A deluge of bright yellow flames met with the head of the tsunami before it could wash over the rest of the Society still on the ground. Though steam engulfed the bug type along with everything in the surrounding area, the light hardly died down in the slightest. 

Using the very branch she rode upon as kindling, the Delphox unleashed her own concentrated stream of fire as she swooped by a churning canal. Tendrils shot up after her, but couldn't match the speed she had built up at all. The popping series of explosions that followed in her flame's wake obliterated the surface of the water and anything that lurked beneath, but the waves that rushed to fill in the gap wriggled even worse than before. Panne ignored the prickling feeling that shot through her limbs, swerving around for another pass. She sucked in a breath, only to lose it when a flash of white completely overrode the red tinge of the dome. Thunder rolled across the arena like an earthquake, ringing in her ears long after the attack had ended. Ampharos seemed like he was doing well. 

After a few more passes over the same stream, Panne was unsure if she was doing any meaningful damage at all by only carving into one spot. Just when she had started to fly elsewhere, the writhing crater erupted into a pillar of dark mist that launched into the air after her. She pulled up, but it was too slow. The fog passed within mere inches of her head as she jerked her entire body downward. Pain jabbed into the joints of her shoulders from the sudden motion, yet it was quickly drowned in numbness after she released a protective plume of crimson fire in her wake. Just as quickly as it formed, the cloud condensed back into a liquid state, raining down into the basin to rejoin with its whole. 

Once the dizziness subsided, the Delphox could see that other columns of mist had started to rise up from the churning waterways. She took in a lungful of the smoky air and took off before anything could catch her off-guard, her staff still smouldering at the ends. Like a Talonflame, she swooped by the towering clouds one by one and severed them at the base with explosive force. And though shadow balls and lashing tentacles trailed behind her with every pass, nothing came even close to hitting her. The rush it gave her was difficult to grasp in the midst of battle, but somewhere along the way a bubble of laughter had built up in her chest. Panne had been flown before, but she had never been the one doing the flying, and it certainly never felt like this. The battering wind, the blur of the world around her, the natural flow of turning and diving--it was beyond a dream! 

A harrowing shout ripped Panne out from her fantasy. Though it came from a good distance away, she could guess where it came from by the swelling of the waves as they climbed onto land. Kadabra tried her best to repel the rising tide, but what she lacked in power compounded into how little of an area her attacks affected. At her feet lay Altaria, totally unconscious with a crooked wing. The psychic type shouted for help once more as she blasted a flurry of tendrils away. 

Mismagius arrived first, materializing from thin air to launch an arc of violet wind at the opposite shore. Panne pulled the branch out from beneath her as she leapt into the fray, twisting the motion of landing into a swing of her staff as she bathed the eastern tide in a storm of tiny explosions. Her legs immediately buckled as the sudden rush of blood mingled with the intense prickle of Go For Broke. The Delphox was overcome with a fit of shivers as she fought to gather up her composure. Despite being downed afterwards, however, hers and Mismagius' efforts were just enough to earn them an extra few seconds as the demon reeled back. 

"I need more time!" Kadabra shouted from the wounded dragon's side, fiddling around in her satchel for a reviver seed. "Just hold on, I can fix this-!" She was interrupted as another earthquake of thunder rolled over the basin. 

The black water surged to their weakest flank all at once, far more quickly than either of them could react. Panne was fully prepared to launch herself into the air with her branch like a catapult when the water inexplicably crashed into a huge pink barrier. Mew flew down from above, building the psychic dome as she darted around the tiny island. It quickly became clear just how taxing it was to hold the Spiritomb back, as cracks started to immediately spread across the wall. It pounded with all its strength, rolling into its punches like the rogue waves of a summer storm. Panne sucked in another breath and found the will to stand before it was too late. 

The cracks got worse with every blow, as did Mew's pained whimpering. The barrier finally shattered with a resounding snap, giving way to a wall of the black liquid. Kadabra screamed and covered her head. The Tempest Looplet squeezed as Panne answered with a flaming vortex of her own. Black turned to red, red turned to white, a blinding surge of steam erupted from the impact. Purple winds surged, holding back the floodwaters and steam alike. A high-pitched squeal tapered into a lower and lower note until the Spiritomb's waters suddenly blew backwards into the basin in a brilliant shower of blue sparks. After a series of coughs, Altaria gave a triumphant shout. Despite all the energy Panne and the others expended in holding off the attack, the Spiritomb shrugged it off like it was nothing, and continued to boil away beneath the surface. 

"Are we even hurting this thing? We're just kicking around in puddles and wasting our time!" Mismagius said, eyeing the shoreline for the inevitable retaliation. 

"It's spread so thin that it's probably absorbing most of the damage with the water!" Ignoring the intense prickling all across her body, Panne mounted her staff once more. She scoured her head for some way to separate the ghost from the environment, but her thoughts were so scattered that she just ended up refocusing on the battlefield. Even the clouds she had blasted through weren't made of the noxious mist they usually were. Was it just waiting out the Domain Orb, or was it wearing them down? 

Lightning flashed, the smell of burning and decay mingled, yet she could hardly even feel herself breath through her nose anymore. The Delphox dug her claws into bark as she darted away. For every inch she flew, a dozen tendrils shot up from the waterways behind her, a mere reflexion of what moved below the surface. There was only one person it would be concentrating on in a time like this. She scoured the veins of land for Vallion, but it was impossible to see past the rising clouds once her vision started started to blur. Whether it was from adrenaline or strain that her body began to fail, Panne couldn't care less. She wasn't going to stop until this was over, until Vallion was safe and this monstrosity was erased from history! 

All it took was one moment of distraction. Panne didn't expect the tendrils to start leading her movement, until a mangled mass of them burst from the stream before her. She twisted her body away and pulled with all her might to bank to the left, but by then it was far too late to dodge. Numb as she was, the impact didn't hurt as much as it rattled her senses, yet she could feel herself tumble out of the sky like a falling leaf perfectly well. Her muscle memory reached for the pounce wand, her panicked thoughts tried to force the branch to lift her up once more, and yet the both of these together yielded nothing. 

Rather than hitting the surface of the water, it was almost as if the water opened up to her whole. The abyssal pressure that surrounded her came as no surprise. Though the stream itself was shallow enough to stand up in, it held her down at the bottom. What kind of idiot would let herself drift off in the middle of a battle like this? She fought the invisible force to pull the pounce wand from her fur, barely able to move more than a few inches at a time before she pressed her back into the mud. 

There was a muffled splash somewhere nearby. Within the next few seconds of struggling, Panne felt the a vacuum surround her, then a rush of atmosphere as she teleported to safety. The Delphox fell into a fit of hacking and wheezing, yet could move little besides her head. Her stunned senses were flooded with light and sound, the battle raging on without her in all directions. 

"Dummy!" Mew shouted as she fussed over the Delphox. "You're not very good at flying, you know that? Shoulda stayed on the ground if you were just going to fly straight into a trap like that!" The psychic type's brow furrowed before she reached for something out of view. 

Panne simply tried her best to stay conscious while a storm of tingling siezed her limbs in numb agony. The leg she had turned towards the blow mid-flight suffered the worst of it all, the sensation only comparable to her very flesh boiling just beneath the skin. Of the few times she had used Go For Broke, none came even close to feeling as intense as this. Squinting, she caught sight of Volcarona and Jirachi as they tore a hole into a bulging cloud above, leaving a trail of blooming flames and metallic sparks in their wake. 

When Mew came back into Panne's vision, a seed had appeared in her hands. "How are you going to protect Val while on the ground, huh? It's your job now, I shouldn't-" the psychic type cut herself off, her eyes suddenly glued to the Tempest Looplet. Shaking her head, she pulled the seed away. "Panne, I'm taking that off." 

"You can't," the Delphox croaked, gritting her teeth. "If I can barely put a dent in this thing even with all these emeras, what makes you think I'll be any bit useful without them?" She started to push off the ground with her elbows, but even a motion as simple as that seemed to draw upon the very power that crippled her in the first place. Once she sat up fully, however, the unbearable discomfort waned into one that was only distracting instead. When she finally tried to stand, the static feeling in her right leg turned into a searing bolt of lightning that forced her to the ground. There was nothing she could do about a broken bone except find another branch and keep flying. 

Mew winced away, her sympathetic expression darkened by the red light that filtered through the dome. "I really hate that I know exactly what you're thinking." The constant sound of crashing water deafened her voice, and it only grew worse by the second. 

When the Delphox scanned the water's edge for danger, her eyes traveled up instead, to a distant swell of fog. There were worse things to worry about than a tiny emera. In the center of the basin rose a black cloud so large that it seemed to darken everything in sight. Any part of it that wasn't directly highlighted with the rich red glow was blended together into a single plane of sheer black. The space directly below it was only a silhouette against the far wall of the dome, yet Panne could see the surface of the water pull upwards as a torrential downpour worth of water rose into the Spiritomb amidst a vortex of mist. As if punctuating the menacing sight, a crack of white slashed through the sky from the west and struck the cloud with an ear-shattering boom. 

"Oh..." Mew's tail whipped through the air erratically. She turned away from the Spiritomb, scoffed at the ground, then glanced towards the Delphox with a glint in her eye, but a sharp frown on her face. Panne instantly recognized the expression, as it settled on Mew in the exact same way as her when she first grabbed the Go For Broke. "Listen. Nothing we're about to do right now is going to change how stupid of a idea it all is, okay? Remember that!" 

A gasp escaped Panne's hoarse throat as she felt herself become weightless. Mew grunted with effort as she lifted her into the air, an act of telekinesis the Delphox couldn't seem to achieve anymore. "Do you have anything to burn for your fire? A wand or something?" The psychic type asked as she started down the draining canal with a burst of speed, carrying Panne along with her. 

It was incredibly difficult to think straight after being dragged along so suddenly, much less as they flew into the shadow of the demon where it was as dark as night. "I- I have a pounce wand, but that's it! It's definitely not going to help us blast this thing apart!" 

"Look down then! If the banks are all drying up, we can find all sorts of junk that washed in from everywhere else in the jungle!" Mew took them low enough that Panne could see the white froth on the water's surface surge towards the center, like the way an ocean reeled back for a tsunami. The muddy banks that were revealed in its retreat were completely littered with all manners of debris, be it treasure or just evidence of the destruction the storm had caused. The colorful glint of orbs and emeras lodged in the muck caught her eye, yet she ignored them outright and searched only for narrow bits of lumber that didn't quite seem to fit into the scene. Still, it was impossible to tell a wand from any other twig in the tens of thousands that they passed. 

"You two!" Ampharos' voice pulled the Delphox away from her fruitless search. Her chief stood at the edge of a peninsula, illuminated like a spotlight by the white-blue flashes deep in his mane and tail as they flowed weightlessly. Dedenne stood atop his shoulder while Mawile stood beside. "Get down here! We don't have much time it seems!" 

As they came close, Mew had to rethink placing Panne back on the ground when her right leg buckled beneath her once more. Sucking in the pain, the Delphox spoke through her teeth. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Do any of you know if Val is alright?" 

"He's on the other side with Hydreigon still. I saw him across the way a minute ago," Dedenne's response washed over Panne like a wave of relief, but the electric type was quick to dispel any notion that things were going well. "How are we supposed to deal with it now? We barely managed to do damage before, but now it doesn't look like our lightning is even making it flinch! Panne?" 

"Just because I could blow it away before doesn't mean I know how to fight THIS! At no point in my fights was it ever this big!" With the same panicked haste she scoured the shallow river behind her, but nothing ever stood out. The only way she was going to find a wand worth a damn was if she crawled into the mud herself and sifted through each twig and stick. "I just... Do any of you have a blasting wand? Or anything else other than a stupid pounce wand?" 

"What, you don't have one? How were you even throwing out so much fire before this?" Mawile reached into the back slung across her back and tossed her an curved twig. When Panne made the catch, the weight alone nearly caused her to fumble it to the ground. Either this was an incredible specimen of a wand, or she had gotten a whole lot weaker than she originally thought. 

A horrible groan echoed throughout the dome as the Spiritomb swelled in size. Though their vision was limited from underneath, it seemed to already take up an entire third of the dome by itself. The demon was such an impossible size that the very thought of killing it left her breathless. Despite all the odds, she took in a painful whisp of air and puffed out her hollow chest. "Alright, fine! Get out from beneath it, then you guys keep doing what you were! Pelt this thing with as much lightning as you can, and see if you can hit something important inside of it! I'll work my way around with Mew and try to see if any opportunities open up! Just don't let yourself get caught by whatever it's going to do!" 

Ampharos gave a salute. "Will do! Keep safe out there, and remember what you're fighting for!" Panne took hold of the blasting wand with both hands and nodded, and with Mew's telekinesis she was off once more. 

The Spiritomb shuddered under its own weight, and as thousands of tons of water shifted within the cloud. there came an earth-shaking sound that caused Panne's heart to skip a beat. Together they flew out from beneath the shadow of the demon, but her eyes never seemed to recover from the dark. Turning her head back, she saw Jirachi and Volcarona still carving a line up the side of the cloud, yet it was hard to say they were doing any damage at all. The battle seemed to become gradually more impossible with every moment she stared at what the creature had become. "What the hell are we supposed to do?" The Delphox shouted above the din. 

Mew hesitated to answer. "What, do you honestly think I would know? Look at that thing! I hope you don't actually expect me to fly us into there when it's eating massive lightning bolts like they’re nothing!" 

When the monster finally started to move through the sky, the force it took to displace all that water appeared as a shockwave, which traveled from one end all the way to the other. It inched towards the top of the dome as the Society's attacks glanced harmlessly from its underside. Panne dug her claws in the backs of her hands as she clutched the blasting wand. "I think we need to fly in there!" 

"What? No way!" the psychic type shot back. 

Another ripple traveled through the Spiritomb,this one twice as large as the last, and worst of all, straight in their direction. At first the cloud originally seemed to move incredibly slowly, yet that opinion quickly changed as Panne's vision filled with a sheer wall of black. She pointed the wand forward and brought a flame to its tip, but there wasn't an emera in the world that could convince her that her fire was enough to stop it. "Up! Up! Not in, up!" 

"Make up your mi-iind!" Mew pulled upwards as quickly as she could. The Tempest Looplet squeezed tight as she launched a series of crimson bolts, her wand bucking with recoil like she were firing off cannon shots instead. Barely scraping up and over the top of the cloud, she watched as her attack buried into the mist and detonated just beneath, leaving nothing but a few small craters that almost immediately started to fill back in. It was like trying to beat a pillow in with a pebble. 

Despite the minimal damage Panne's attack had caused, something boiled underneath the surface. The slight swell grew and grew until a sizable portion of the monster had funneled into it, bleeding through the air as it started gaining on Mew. The Delphox sucked in a breath and fired another flurry of bolts behind them. The impacts scattered the head of the advancing mists, yet the blast only gave way to hundreds of lunging tendrils. Just as the tip of her wand started to glow with a blinding intensity, Mew's tail wrapped around the Delphox's torso, an unintelligible shout buried beneath rolling thunder. Space warped like a gasp, and in an instant they had arrived at the opposite end of the dome. The Spiritomb surged upward to swallow the spot they were once flying. 

In the brief respite Mew had earned them, Panne allowed her eyes to glaze over as she answered her aching lungs. From this distance, the cloud looked like a bottomless hole stabbed into the fabric of the universe, and the way it moved through the air reminded her of spilt ink on paper. Two more white cracks in the sky overwrote the endless red for a fraction of a second, but still the Spiritomb shrugged off the attacks without even wincing. Her pupils sharpened into slits at a blue glare nearer to the ground. She stared past Hydreigon's pulsing attack, knowing full well the result of the effort, and instead trained her eyes on the speck of green so invisible that she had to squint just to make out his shape. Something in the back of her mind was certain that Vallion was staring back from all the way down there. A smile nearly worked its way onto her face. 

"Okay," Panne sighed. "There's not much time left. We're not going to accomplish anything by pounding on the outside, it'll only tire us out and get us killed. Since it would take an entire army to carve a hole into that goddamn thing, we need in. There's got to be a spot somewhere in there that it's trying to protect. If we can find it, I can kill it." 

"But what if there isn't?! What if there's just nothing in there?" Mew quivered with adrenaline, translating into her telekinetic hold on the Delphox. "What would you even expect to find in there in the first place? Why wouldn't it just spread across the entirety of the cloud? Panne, why do you give such terrible ideas?!" 

"If there's really nothing in there, than we've already lost anyway," she said, barely audible above the battle. "It's just something I'm hoping for at this point. What else are we supposed to do? When there's nothing else left to try besides the one thing that seems like it couldn't possibly work, then that's probably the right answer, right?" 

The psychic type faltered. After a moment where only the distant booms rung in their ears, Mew gave a tiny growl. "If there's anything in there to even find--and assuming we don't immediately die as soon as we jump in--I can probably feel around for whatever's particularly insane in that mess. Maybe it won't actually be prepared for us to willingly fly into it?" 

"Come on, Val's counting on us." 

As they approached the monster, Panne felt her looplet start to squeeze without even trying to summon its strength. What little light filtered in through the top of the dome was lost when half of her sky went dark. From the rushing wind she stole the biggest breath her lungs could hold, smoke trailing from her wand at the mere notion. The Delphox closed her eyes and imagined the voice of her lover. 

What little parts of her that could still feel were assaulted with a cold so intense that it felt like burning. An unbearable stinging sensation washed over her in the next few seconds. Even through the numbness of Go For Broke, she still couldn't ignore the caustic feeling of the Spiritomb's fog. With nearly all her senses thoroughly ruined, Panne tensed up her body and merely waited while huge riptides pulled them both in whatever direction the demon chose. The noise those thousands of tons of water made filled her ears entirely, a deafening roar that spanned in all directions for as far as she could ever hope to hear. There was something else nearly buried beneath the cacophony which took her too long to notice--screams that were slowed down beyond recognition, aligned in choruses that sounded like dying groans. 

'There!' Mew's telepathy chimed in the Delphox's head. Panne lurched from the abrupt change in direction. her head now faced against the current. 'I can see it! Hold on!' 

As they moved closer to what she assumed was the center of the cloud, the pressure bearing down on them intensified twice fold. They had to be getting close, but it still wasn't fast enough. Panne started to choke as her lungs became desperate for fresh air. The screaming that laced the waters grew louder and louder, nearly to the point that it completely overcame the rushing noise. She mustered up what little oxygen was left in her chest and began to convert it to heat. Either her blood was pumping too hard in compensation for all the air she stole from it, or the water pressure around her was starting to pulse like a heartbeat. Everything seemed just a little bit warmer. 

"PANNE!" The single word came from ahead, reverberating so powerfully that the Tempest Looplet was the only thing that kept her from gasping. In the wake of the howl, despite the painful ringing that bounced around in her skull, Mew manage to communicate the only thing the Delphox needed to hear. 

'Now!' 

Panne raised her left leg up to her chest and held the blasting wand beneath her foot. She channeled the heat from her throat into her arms, down further into her hands, and finally shoved as much of the stinging power as she could into the twig before she pulled up and kicked down. It snapped without question. The boiling that surrounded them was pleasantly warm at first, but quickly grew to an intense scalding as it surged outwards. Red light pressed into her closed eyelids. She could feel her fire spread in the back of her mind, almost like she were merely extending an arm. A tug of her consciousness grabbed hold of this expanding force and came down on the core with all her might. 

A moment went by where Panne was simply holding the explosion in place against the Spiritomb, squeezing her hands together the same as she was squeezing the blistering fire together. If it had a neck, this was it. When the second passed, she willed the sparks in her crimson flames to detonate and simply let go of it entirely. The world instantly became noise and pain, and then black. 

 

 

The feeling of a million needles in every conceivable nerve roused Panne from the abyss. Her watery eyes opened to a blue sky, the huge dome nowhere to be seen. If she still had the ability to feel, the noon sun would have started to soak into her fur by now. She could do little more than to lift her neck to squint at her surroundings. The far side of the basin was beyond overflowing, with most of the land completely submerged beneath a massive hill of water. Though the banks nearest to her were just as filled, the ledges were barely tall enough to keep her dry while everything drained away. 

Mew laid a few feet away, her whole body involved with every huge breath. "Dummy..." she wheezed with what little air she could spare. "If I couldn't teleport... You'd be so dead..." 

For a while, the Delphox merely laid there and contemplated the pain she was in. Her looplet still pulsed with her racing heart, yet she lacked the will to tear it off for fear of the stinging that would wrack her arms. Panne could only concentrate on breathing. She heard something that wasn't the constant roar in her temples. Something off in the distance a ways-- a shout, and a desperate one at that. It was then she realized that nobody was safe until the basin could fully drain. Drawing upon the very power that caused her so much agony in the first place, she sat up with a rugged groan. The shouting continued, and it started to sound more and more like Val. Suddenly it was a lot easier to ignore the pain. 

The Serperior had made it to high ground it seemed, but it was the dark amalgamation he whipped at which caused him to scream. The Spiritomb still lived. After a great deal of effort, Panne managed to yank the pounce wand from the fur of her wrist, counting the islands she would have to jump to just to make it over. When she tried to stand however, her right leg brought her back down to a kneel in an instant, breathless curses pouring from her mouth. On the second attempt, she stood mainly on her left while balancing with her right and trying her hardest not to scream. With a quick swing of the wand, the Delphox warped over to the next marooned patch of land, collapsed, and pushed up to do it again. 

With each island Panne struggled to jump to, the Spiritomb's condition was further revealed. It seemed to have deteriorated back to its original form--the one she had fought in the cave beyond Revelation Mountain--yet it struggled to even maintain that. Entire chunks of its black mass sloughed off as it undulated in panic. Vallion's vines did it no favors, but the demon was dying all on its own. One island closer, she started to hear its discordant voices argue amongst themselves. Some still spoke as distorted versions of Vallion while others had reverted back to their original voices, but every last one participated in the storm of bickering nonetheless. 

"Panne!" Vallion glanced back as she materialized half-way in the water behind him. Every part of her trembling, she clawed her way up onto land and took a labored kneel. "We have to finish it off, we have to kill it!" 

The Spiritomb ignored Panne's presence entirely and focused only on the Serperior that dodged its clumsy attacks. The argument rose to a fever pitch as unintelligible shouts rose from its core, spending their last few moments in the most bitter way possible. It was almost something to be pitiful of. The Delphox took a deep breath and let her looplet squeeze away, crimson flames sprouting from her palms and climbing all the way to her elbows. Spikes of pain jammed into her nerves, but she continued to pump fuel into the fire despite it all. Almost pitiful, but definitely not quite there yet. 

Panne envisioned the jaws of a beast as the flames grew, gnashing teeth and crushing muscles all. Cinder spittle would fly from its maw as it bound towards its prey, sharpened pupils locked onto the vulnerable back of its neck. Her flames obeyed the imagery as the shape of a sneering snout began to form in their excited dancing. The beast opened its jaw and made a roaring motion, its tongue quivering as the flames lapped within. Only then did the Spiritomb seem to notice her presence, which ironically was the point of the move in the first place, and far too late for it to react. With a weak swing of her arms, Panne launched a torrent of fire with the beast's head as its lead--a pounce to land the final strike. 

When the flames bit down on the demon's semi-solid body, she commanded them to shake as if it were ripping flesh and breaking bones. The force it applied caused the Spiritomb to roll, bringing with it the beast's head and causing its neck to extend in the fashion of a serpent rather than a beast. As the imagery changed in her head, so did the attack's shape begin to morph. It wrapped layer upon layer of fire over its prey until she could no longer see black. Panne took in another breath and barely managed to hold it in without choking, spots appearing in her vision already. The sparks in her fire slowly started to pop against her fading will, yet she seized control and forced them to all detonate at once. 

The explosion rumbled, smoke blew past, and the weight the Delphox had felt lift away as she released her attack was too much. She fell backwards with a satisfied grin on her face, yet she never did feel herself hit the ground.


	21. Vallion

Panne was almost certain she was dead. The blackness that had enveloped her was unlike anything she had felt before. Her senses no longer seemed to exist at all. There was only the realization that she still possessed cognitive thought, however incoherent they may have been. She started to hear muffled voices after a while, drawing closer and becoming more clear with time. It was only when the Delphox started to pick up on which of her friends was speaking that she snapped back to the present. Her eyes shot open, but that was all her body would obey her. 

"She's waking up! Oh thank god, she's waking up!" 

The first thing Panne saw as she opened her eyes was Altaria, and her first conscious thought was how unsurprising that was. The second was how disconnected she felt, like she was just a pair of eyes inside a body that didn’t even belong to her. What was once a sea of prickling agony had disappeared entirely, leaving nothing but numbness in its wake. Though she willed herself to gasp, and heard the sound of her own breathing, there was no sensation in her chest to confirm that she wasn't actually suffocating. The Delphox tried and failed to sit up, unable to even gauge how poorly the attempt went. 

"Now now, slow down there." Ampharos' voice rung out against the sound of rushing water. "Just take it easy, Panne. We're not in any rush. Give yourself a few minutes to recover at least. Relax, the battle is won." 

"Care to explain this?!" Altaria loomed, the Tempest Looplet in her talons. The dragon didn't give her a chance to respond. "Oh goodness gracious, what were you even thinking? You're lucky you even woke up after using an emera like that for so long! I've seen Go For Broke put people into comas, Panne! Did you just not trust us enough to finish the fight on our own?" 

Panne listened to the sound of her own quivering breath. Altaria was a mess, a broken wing on one side and a bloody one on the other. "If we lost, I would’ve felt guilty about every single advantage I didn't take, absolutely anything I could have used to stop the Spiritomb but decided not to. Why wouldn't I use Go For Broke? It's not like I cared how dangerous it was, not when I was planning on fighting to the death anyway." 

"Whatever happened is in the past now, let's focus on the present." Ampharos knelt down beside the Delphox, revealing the crowd of weary faces that had gathered behind him. She counted them one by one, silently thankful to find that everyone was present, even if that didn't exactly mean unharmed. "Okay, let's take this one step at a time. You're not in a coma, so that's the first part already over with. Can you sit up at all?" 

The second time around went better than the first. Panne managed to prop herself up on her elbows without immediately buckling underneath her own weight. The action alone was enough to spark a slow recovery as the hard ground finally became evident beneath her. As feeling returned, so did the pangs of overwhelming exhaustion that encompassed her last few seconds of consciousness before she had originally blacked out. While still agonizing, it was still entire leagues better than the intense stabbing sensation that Go For Broke caused. The Delphox sat up fully and looked down at her hands, uncurling each finger like she was regarding a wound. 

"Hmm. It doesn't seem like the emera caused much damage, does it?" Ampharos muttered. 

"Keep looking," Mismagius spoke up from above. "I'm sure there's something wrong. If she wore her looplet for the whole battle, then there's bound to be consequences." 

Panne's heart sunk as she examined the countless scrapes and bruises that covered her body. Only when she made it down to her lower half did the Delphox remember how badly she had screwed up her leg. While the left seemed better off than the rest of her, having nearly recovered from its numbness already, her right leg wouldn't even twitch when she gave the command. Not an ounce of feeling had returned to it, and it was entirely unresponsive in every way. "Oh..." 

"Is something wrong?!" Altaria gasped. 

"Well my leg got broken in the middle of the fight, I know that much. I just kinda...can't really move it at all." Panne willed herself to kick once more, but only the left obeyed. Her ears tilted backwards. "It just doesn't move. And I'm starting to feel again, everywhere but there." 

Ampharos' face grew severe. "How far up can you feel?" 

Did...did she really just lose her whole leg? The Delphox pressed her claws into the flesh of her thigh, only to find that all sensation was lost a quarter of the way down. "About there," she said, running her finger along the line. Even with all her effort, the limb still refused to respond to any command she gave it. 

"Panne... I think you might not get that back." While Ampharos examined her leg, a sigh fell from his mouth. "The internal trauma caused by the broken bone probably worsened the nerve damage of Go For Broke. If the rest of your body besides here is starting to recover from its effects, I'm not sure what to say." 

Despite all this, Panne felt more at ease than she had in weeks. "I’d say it could have been worse" she muttered, still rubbing the transition where she lost all feeling. "Where's Val? I just saw him, I know he's around here somewhere. Is he okay?" 

"You-you just lost the use of an entire leg!" Altaria was nearly hyperventilating. "How can you be so calm about all this?!" 

"It's not your leg, Altaria. And besides, if I was going to lose a leg no matter what, I can't think of any better ways to do it. I don't really feel bad about it at all." Panne was finally beginning to feel the sun soaking into her fur. Its shine seemed brighter than ever, and after having spent so long underneath a mountain of clouds, it wasn't hard for her to imagine why. "You seriously don't need to freak out in my place. I mean come on, you ended up being more stressed out than I was. So, where's Val?" 

Ampharos shook his head as he took a step to the side. It was further down the peninsula that Panne saw the Serperior. Her heart sank at how many bandages covered his body, his upper half practically beneath a blanket of gauze. Once the Delphox realized how close he probably was to her final attack, a terrible dagger of guilt stabbed right through her ribs. As soon as Vallion saw that she was awake, he immediately tried to shoot her a reassuring smile. Apparently she didn't do well enough to hide the flood of shame on her face. 

"I'm fine, don't worry," the Serperior immediately said as he came close. "You only did what you had to do. I'm just a little bit messed up, it's really not all that impressive compared to what everyone else is dealing with. Dedenne said I'll be healed in just a week or two." 

"Ah, that's good," Panne sighed the words from her chest. "I lost total use of my leg from nerve damage." 

"Oh," Val blinked. 

With a grunt and a series of loud pops, Panne stretched with what limbs she could. "Honestly, I'm not too worried about it. As long as I can use my telekinesis to get around, things are probably fine." 

"Is there really nothing we can do? That isn't just fine!" Altaria said, viciously tapping a talon against the ground. She turned her head to the edge of the rapids where a certain dragon stared off into the distance. "Hydreigon, is there no way we can help Panne regain use of her leg? If anyone were to know of some miracle we could make, it's you!" 

It took a long time for Hydreigon to turn around. One of their eyes was shut tight, and a dried trail of blood followed the curve of their face like a tear. They regarded the Delphox with all the intensity of both eyes put into a single narrowed pupil. After a drawn-out hum, they finally gave a shake of their head. "What you speak of goes beyond my abilities. Returning Vallion's memories is a purely ethereal matter, but the damage in your leg stems from a wholly physical force. Honestly, the best I could do is have an entirely new body created and transfer your consciousness into that instead, but such a process is not one to be taken lightly." 

"Gah! Stop talking about it!" Panne yelled, her hoarse voice gathering more attention than if it were clear. A moment of peace passed as she exhaled. "Everyone just needs to stop worrying or-or whatever! We beat the Spiritomb, alright? It's done! The only thing we need to do is make it to Vallion's old body and that's it! Let's save all this for when everything is back to normal, okay?" 

The following silence came and went without a murmur of protest, but whether that was from actual agreement and not lack of energy was impossible to tell. Jirachi managed to fetch the Delphox an adequate branch from the rapids--telekinesis now being her only mode of travel. Despite the incessant pounding that began to wrack her skull, Panne slowly and deliberately took to the air, but her own balance was quickly compromised by the dead weight of her right leg. Even though it held no feeling at all, she still cringed as she folded it beneath her and felt it swell from the broken bone within. As soon as Panne gathered enough composure, she joined the beleaguered march of her friends as they limped their way towards the treeline. 

Volcarona was forced to retrieve their bags from the high tree since nobody else was in any shape to climb or fly. Once they were weighed down by their own supplies once more, most eyes turned to Mew. 

"It is time," Hydreigon announced in a voice that was far less enthused than anything they'd said all day. "Mew, I know you have gone through a great deal, and I am sorry to ask so much of you, but I have one last favor before our time here is done. Will you lead us to your Vallion's grave?" 

"Duh! I already told you yes, remember?" The pink pokemon muttered as she squinted up at the sky. "You took care of the thing that was wrecking my home, so it's only fair. Besides, I wanna take a nap..." Mew contemplated the wind for a moment before turning towards the east. She started forward without another word, and with about the same level of excitement everyone fell in line behind her. 

Though the sun filtered in through the canopy in a reassuring way, the jungle was still as deathly silent as it was while the Spiritomb was still alive. The damage it had caused would take months to recover at the least, and the scars would remain for as long as there were old trees still standing. Panne tried her best to concentrate on flying, but her eyes kept on glazing over in thought. How many lives dissipated into thin air when she finally dealt the finishing blow? How many of them were the innocents that had been absorbed over the last few weeks, and were the wildlings even going to return to this place at all after what happened? While these questions circled around in her aching skull, it sunk in that they were inching ever-closer to the solution she had been praying for since that exhausting night in the thick brush and ivy--since Vallion looked into her eyes and saw a stranger. 

Panne glanced at the Serperior out of the corner of her eye. Val's presence was so much stronger now than when he was still a Servine, it was hard not to know where he was at any given moment. The elegant way he moved gave no indication that he was hurt at all, yet his eyes burned with intensity all the while. The scarf really did look like it belonged around his neck. Her stomach filled with fluttering the longer she looked at him, so she chose to stare forward instead and ignore the loneliness for just a while longer. The last stretch in anything was always supposed to be hardest. 

Mawile was the first to speak since they left the basin, the sound so sudden that it nearly made Panne jump right off her staff. "I've been trying to write the report for this expedition, and I'm still wondering how the Spiritomb was powerful enough to steal memories and souls. The few Spiritomb I have met in my life probably wouldn't have even come close to matching this thing. Was it even a Spiritomb at all, or something more?" 

"The abomination's inception was the same as any other of its kind," Hydreigon said as they cleared their throat, spitting congealed blood into the far brush. "The answer you're looking for is in the individuality of the souls that made up its form. A Spiritomb is not something that appears out of thin air. It is a crafted entity, and there is not a manufactured thing in this world without a purpose behind its creation. To work our way down to your question, we must first ask why was this particular Spiritomb made." 

The fairy was quick to respond. "If I have my facts straight, most of them were supposed to be prisons, right? I recall there being rumors of a few that were made to preserve pokemon who were deemed too valuable to die, though. It might not be too crazy to assume that our abomination was one of the latter considering the ridiculous amount of occult knowledge it had." 

"It may have been either, but we should consider the keystone it once inhabited. The vessel must have been far too large to transport, so it's safe to assume the ritual was strictly local. So far, we've observed that it knows how to call upon, manipulate, and form spells out of Unown. It knows the raw power a human soul possesses, and despite Panne's success in stopping it the first time, I'm sure it knows how to render that soul from a body. We know that a few hundred individuals were subjected to a fate worse than death and were locked away--presumably for all of time. That is no small feat considering how difficult it was to make even a moderately-sized Spiritomb. Why would these souls need to be imprisoned so?" 

"Cultists?" Mawile guessed, her nose buried deep within her journal. 

"With Revelation Mountain and the spring of Luminous Water so close in proximity, I wouldn't be surprised. It explains the location, occult knowledge, and severity of the locks that held it in place. Personally, though, I can't seem to recall an event of this proportion ever happening on Water Continent during that time. I find it difficult to believe that this whole thing just went under the radar. Mew, perhaps you might have a little more insight on this matter? I recall you having some ties to this place around the time the abomination was likely formed." 

After a pause, Mew gave a long groan. "I don't know, Hydreigon. Can you remember things that happened over a thousand years ago like they were yesterday?" 

"Sometimes," the dragon muttered. "So that's a no, then?" 

"We're getting close. It won't be long now," the pink pokemon sniffed. "Ugh, I need a nap so bad..." 

Wherever Mew was leading them, it seemed farther from the heart of the jungle than Panne had anticipated. What little remained of the colorful flora could no longer be seen, and the dense canopy had thinned out even further as its massive trees shrunk. It became harder and harder to believe that this was the same fantastical place they arrived at yesterday. Before long, the harsh silence that rang in her ears had finally smoothed out into a reassuring quiet. The little sounds she had missed so much finally reached her ears, now that there was no chance of malice waiting behind them. The jungle itself seemed to sigh in relief. 

The Society turned past a single thicket and were greeted with the crescendo of this newfound peace. At the far end of the grove, a step waterfall made its way down a granite hillside into a babbling pond, its waters so clear that Panne could see the sun's refraction on the stone above it. Soft patches of grass rolled in waves, a stark difference from the saw-bladed grasses that always caught on her leg-fur as she tried to traverse the jungle. Little spots of sunlight danced along the ground as branches swayed back and forth in the cool air. It was like they had just stepped into a second mystery dungeon while still within the first. 

Mew groaned as she flitted ahead. "God, finally!" They followed her to the crystalline pond and watched as the psychic type dunked her whole head beneath the surface. After a few seconds, she emerged with a refreshed gasp. "You guys can stay as long as you want! This is my home, and there's nowhere else like it in the entire jungle!" 

"Mew, focus. The body," Vallion reminded her. 

The relief quickly faded from her face, and with a blank stare she motioned up an incline towards a massive oak tree. With all the lively scenery that surrounded them, the sheer age of this tree became apparent in the matter of seconds. Its branches were mostly barren, and what little leaves remained were the only signs of life it had left. "It's up there," Mew said. "Your body is buried up there." 

Panne was the first up the hill, clenching her teeth as she willed the branch to carry her onwards. The Delphox finally allowed herself to relax once she was at the top, which resulted in her collapsing to the ground. She enjoyed the feeling of the damp grass on her fur before Mismagius came to help her up. 

Just beyond the opposite lip of the hill were several more oaks--none quite as old as the first one--but most were still past their first few hundred years. When Panne glanced back at the ancient tree, her eyes shifted out of focus, and a spike of pain jammed its way into their sockets. She squinted at the trunk in spite of the splitting headache, but soon found that it was not the concussion that broke her concentration. Carved into the dry bark were a short series of symbols that immediately clicked in her head and worked its way to the tip of her tongue. She placed a hand on the word but glanced down at the ground she sat upon. 

"What'd you find, Panne?" Mawile spoke as she trudged up the slippery incline. The fairy gasped when she saw the writing. "Oh, old text! Let me see if I can still figure it out on my own... So that would probably be a 'V' 'A' when you translate the sound, and-" she trailed off. 

"I don't know what you expected," Mew chimed in from above. "I literally just told you that Val's body was up here. Like, I can't imagine what else that one word could have been." 

Hydreigon motioned for everyone to move back. The Delphox did her best to crawl away before Vallion scooped her up in his vines and moved her to the side. He flashed her a smile, but his eyes seemed to go right through her. 

"Yes, this is it. It's hard to tell, but there is something significant beneath the dirt here," the dragon said. They shot a glance at Mew, who gave a reluctant nod before turning her back to the scene. That was all the affirmation Hydreigon needed to start digging, While they tore at roots with each side head, murmurs traveled through the air. Panne used her temporary staff to push herself up, but she relied on the oak for balance as she looked out over the grove. Though the ache of exhaustion soaked in her muscles, her right leg remained as absent from the rest of her body as ever. Some primal part in the back of the Delphox's mind started to feel panic at how nothing she could do would make her limb respond, but the calm scenery served extremely well in keeping the feeling at bay. Maybe being attracted to places like these was just something she inherited from Mew all along. 

The pregnant pause was broken by gasps and excited whispers. The unmistakable discoloration of old bones shone through the dark soil. Another inch revealed more ancient yellow, the trees roots wrapping themselves around the corpse in an almost protective way. A few more gave way to shape, and suddenly they were the first pokemon in at least hundreds of years to bear witness to a real human. Panne felt the world start to spin as the identity of the bones really began to sink in. It was hard to concentrate on the sheer scientific breakthrough of it all when she could scarcely remember to breath for more than a few seconds at a time. 

"This is really weird and I hate this," Mew commented. 

Hydreigon dusted themselves off, huffing through their nose in triumph. "Here, we bear witness to the human who partnered with Mew and defended the world from a great calamity brought on by the death throes of a desperate age. Normally I would worry about the haunting that would result of this, but we've already been living amongst his ghost for a while now, and we have work to do. Now, I ask again." When the dragon turned towards the Serperior, their eyes sharpened to feral slits once more. "This is your body, Vallion. By performing this ritual, I am forced to--by all technicalities--desecrate your own corpse. Will you allow this?" 

"Yes," Val snapped back immediately. This the whole journey behind them, there was nothing more to mull over. 

"Very well. Then I will need time, your patience, and that Awakening I had you gather." Ampharos tossed a tiny bag at the dragon, who immediately emptied out the glittering crystal onto the half-buried ribcage of some bipedal creature Panne never thought she'd ever see. Mawile started taking notes so viciously that she seemed to nearly rip through the paper of her notebook every few seconds. Jirachi floated over the ritual with curious eyes while Volcarona perched herself up in the oak. Ampharos went around and made sure no one's bandages needed changed, but it was obvious he merely needed something to pass the time. Kadabra stared into the beginnings of the ritual like she had fallen asleep standing up. Vallion did much of the same, but with Altaria right behind him, trying to calm herself with a meaningless attempt to calm him. 

Panne’s ears turned sharply backwards as she limped forward a few feet and sidled up next to the Serperior. "What are we going to do first once we get back to the compound? There's still so much we need to deal with before we actually get married. Man, I really hope we still get our vacation after this." 

Vallion kept his eyes trained on the ritual. "We'll figure it out when we get there. For now, we should be concentrating on what's going in front of us." 

"Well it never hurts to plan ahead, right?" Panne tried her best to ignore the omnipresent hum as it began to fill up her head. "There's even more to do now that we're finished with the damn map. I thought we'd at least be able to take a break, but there's no telling how many more of these abomination-things are in caves beneath mountains somewhere. Once you get your memories back, we really ought to see if we can't start dealing with that. I'm not waiting until another one wakes up." 

"We'll get there," was all he said. 

Hydreigon glanced up from their delicate task to shoot a glare at the Serperior. There was the slightest tilt in their head. "Vallion, the information I gave to you on the Viridian I only gave at all as a disclaimer, but just how long do you intend on keeping Panne in the dark? It is your body and soul, but she is your partner, and she surely has every right to know." 

Before the Delphox could even respond, Vallion replied in monotone. "It's not necessary. If I said anything, it would just make everything harder. It's better this way." 

"What's better what way?" Panne tried her best to appear attentive, nearly falling over in the process. 

The dragon ignored her at first. "I really don't feel comfortable going on with this if there's any false pretenses. I expected you to impart this information in a more thoughtful way than I ever could, but if you won't at least describe the restoration process to her, I have the mind to." 

"I'm right here!" the Delphox shouted, temples pounding as her own voice reverberated through her head like thunder. "Will you say whatever the hell you're going to say already? What's wrong with the ritual?" 

Vallion looked away, adamant not to get involved with whatever this was. Hydreigon gave a disappointed hum and floated away from the ritual, causing the penetrating drone of their strange magicks to die down. The wind whistled through the branches of the oak. "Once his memories of the last eight years are restored, Vallion will not retain any of these last few weeks. We've reached this point far, far too late for them to coexist, so one must replace the other." 

"What?" Panne's ears bent backwards. "That's... that's not fair. Can't you just splice them together like what happened with me and Mew? Why is it too late?" 

The dragon closed their eyes. "If only it were so simple. No, Vallion is different. Even after you were reinstated into Mew, there were technically two entities, and by the Tree of Life's power, he was able to recreate from Mew the pokemon he knew. The laws which follow beings of our world are both flexible and malleable. Remember that Vallion does not come from here. His rules are rigid and uncompromising, the skeleton we all lean over now is evidence of that fact. A human cannot be cloned, replicated, or replaced. This is why Mew was forced to say goodbye to her human a century ago when he was needed elsewhere. This is why this iteration of Vallion must say goodbye now." 

"That doesn't explain to me why he can't keep the memories from now!" The Delphox tried to stomp the ground, but her leg didn't respond. 

"Mew's experiences as a Fennekin made her into a different person. It made you, Panne," Vallion finally spoke up. It almost sounded like he was on the verge of crying for a moment, but he sniffed and pulled himself together. "That's the only reason you could be saved. That whole adventure eight years ago made you into a different person, one strong enough not to be Mew anymore. That's apparently what was happening to me this whole time. I'm supposed to retain less and less with each day that passes, and I think the tipping point was sometime last week. The very second I woke up that night the Spiritomb attacked me, that's when the timer started ticking. As far as the universe is concerned, I'm a totally different person from your Vallion, and there can only ever be one Vallion after all." 

Hydreigon lowered themselves to the ritual once more. "Rigid, indeed. It's kind of like a rebirth of the mind, but when I told him about his fate on the Viridian, he immediately likened it to dying." 

"Wh-Why would you tell her that?!" The Serperior snapped, his sudden yell so commanding that even Panne felt her back muscles tense up. He turned towards her, but his face was full of pleading rather than rage. 

It was hard to speak when her throat was so dry. "...So that's just it, then? We go through all of this trouble, and that's what happens? You just...disappear?" 

"I am making things right again," He said with his head high, looking confident even while his body was smothered with bandages. "The Spiritomb messed everything up, but I have the chance to fix what it originally broke--something it had no right to mess with. And things will only get better once I get my real memories back anyway. Your Vallion is way better than me, and he never deserved what happened to him in the first place.” 

Panne tried to swallow, her ears ringing louder and louder. The grove was getting too warm, even the shade was hot. "You know, you don't have to-" 

"DON'T!" Vallion shouted again. The force of his voice was more than enough to jam a spike of fear between her ribs. She tried to step back, but nearly fell over outright at the reflex. Regret instantly washed over the Serperior's expression. "Just-just don't say it, okay?" 

But she would, almost in a whimper. "You don't have to go..." 

He shut his eyes and bore his teeth like he was in pain. After the moment passed, he finally took in a sharp breath. "Yes. Yes, I do. I have to go because hundreds of other pokemon died from this, and thousands more were displaced and hurt! I have to go because I'm not even supposed to exist! Because I'm here, the Vallion that saved the world isn't, and that's not fair at all! He deserves to live more than me, he’s earned that right!" 

"You don't have to go through with this," Panne reiterated with what little breath she could spare. "You could come back with us like you are right now. We could start again, go and visit the places we already did before. I wouldn't mind, really. You don't have to be the person you were before." 

"How can you even say that? You'd really give up on your Vallion, just like that?" The Serperior's voice quivered. "I wouldn't love you like he does, you know! It wouldn't be like the way it was at all!" 

"That's fine," she muttered. 

Vallion let out a growl and unfurled his vines. In a matter of seconds he removed the Harmony Scarf from his neck and tossed it onto the ground in front of the Delphox. "No, that isn't fine and you know it! How would that ever be fine? I'm not a replacement for Vallion, and you were wrong if you ever thought I could've been! The ritual that's going on right now to bring Vallion back, that's what my purpose here is! It's the only thing I have left to do! I didn't come this far just to give up!" 

Mawile's voice suddenly cut through the tension. "It doesn't have to be giving up," The Society folded back into existence one-by one. Panne's peripherals filled up with familiar faces that she had forgotten were here this whole time. "You could definitely come back with us. We handled the Spiritomb, that's more than enough reason to call this a success. The option is always open." 

But the Serperior shook his head. "I already made up my mind a few days ago. If I didn't go through with this now, I'd just end up regretting every second afterwards for as long as I lived. This was always meant to happen." 

Panne struggled to bend over and pick up the scarf at her feet. She squeezed the fabric as hard as she could, feeling the sting of her claws as they dug into her palm through the scarf. Her eyes had begun to water. "You are such an idiot, you know that? A stubborn, stupid, dumb idiot. Why do you always gotta go and be the hero all the time? It's not healthy for anyone!" 

The hum of the ritual had gotten loud enough that Panne could hardly hear herself think. From deep within the hole came that ominous golden glow, the one that never meant anything good. Vallion's bones seemed to burn with the light, dozens of little yellow sparks rising up from the marrow and fading in the blink of an eye. The light caught on the wind like smoke and twirled upward into the oak's barren branches. Once Hydreigon's incantation ceased, the glow stiffened into a pillar.They opened their eyes. "It is done. If you are ready to proceed, step into the beam of light and be remade one last time." 

Icy panic flooded the Delphox's veins. She held the scarf to her chest, but nothing could hold it back. "Val! Y-you really don't have to go! If there's anything at all left in the world that you want to see, we can see it! I will personally take you absolutely anywhere! I- I just-" 

"I already told you no. I'm only fixing what's broken," he said, his gaze locked firmly on the light. 

"You aren't broken, Val! You aren't a mistake! Maybe you wouldn't be the exact same person you were before, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't belong! All it would take is a little time and people would start to know you for you, not the Vallion from before, or even the one before that! Don't just resign yourself to this like it's the only possible future, because if we're good at anything it's changing the future! Please..." 

Vallion chuckled. "Hush, silly. I have a favor to ask you," A breath caught in Panne's throat, but she was silent. "Be sure to tell your Vallion my story, alright? That would be more than enough to make me happy. I mean, I guess I'll technically just be happy anyway, but it would make this version of me feel better. You're good at telling stories, don't be afraid to exaggerate just a little bit, alright? I won’t mind." He smiled a genuine smile, one that spread all the way across his face and pushed up his eyelids. The overwhelming yellow drowned out all other colors that weren't the amber of his pupils. He turned around. 

"W-Wait!" Panne tried to say, but the Serperior was already a silhouette in a flash of blinding white. The magical drone reached such a volume that it hurt, and beneath it was the faint hint of a strange chirping noise. A huge rush of wind came up from behind her and surged towards the center, and soon after the light followed. Black spots danced in her vision for a few moments before she rubbed them away, and she was almost certain she had been deafened until the sound of the breeze revealed it to only be silence. The spell's equation had run its course. The bones were gone, and in their place coiled the same Serperior she had seen moments ago. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. They all watched on with the same bated breath in their lungs. 

Vallion opened his eyes, but they were always the same molten color she had fallen in love with. He slowly scanned the scene, taking in the confusing barrage of imagery and faces. It was only when he glanced at her did she see him focus up, his once leary expression sharpening into familiarity. "Panne...? What the... Exactly how long was I out?" 

The Delphox lunged forward with her one good leg, collapsed onto the Serperior, and took him into her arms.


	22. Epilogue

"Ow! Son of a-" 

"Will you hold still already?" Altaria chided the Delphox, her beak still full of dress strings. Another rough tug pulled a great deal of fur along with it, causing Panne to hiss through her teeth. 

"Ack, geez! You're gonna kill me if you keep pulling! It's tight enough, I swear!" Panne managed to pull away without falling from her chair. The next time she tried to inhale, the constricting fabric only allowed half of a breath into her lungs, and most of what she inhaled was just the savory-sweet fumes of the shampoo she had used too much of. "Why do I even need to wear a stupid dress, anyway? I already have one that grows on my body! And this one probably looks stupid when my natural one's cut short like it is. The fur would just bend upwards beneath it and make me look all lumpy." 

"You don't look lumpy! You look...shapely!" Altaria insisted, butting the chair with her head until Panne was turned towards the mirror. The Delphox first regarded the skeptical look on her own face, then the seamless green silk that strangled her body from the chest down. It didn't match the color of her eyes, or any other colors for that matter, but at least it fit with the Harmony Scarf. She tried to flatten down the unruly tufts of fur that were apparent beneath the dress, and while she could contain most of the mess, her suspicions about the fur skirt were well-placed. Any attempts to straighten it were met with the same stubborn bounce. 

"It doesn't look that bad, honestly," Mawile said as she wrapped herself in her own velvet shawl. It was such a shameless shade of bright red that Panne could still see it in her peripherals--Ampharos' favorite color. "Perhaps you could keep it down with a belt, or...or a sash or something." 

Panne took hold of her staff from all the way across the room and pulled it towards her. She stood up with its help, but continued to grimace at the blatant imperfection. "We don't have time to get our hands on anything like that! I was barely able to get this dress to begin with, and it's not like any of my old clothes fit anymore. I wasn't expecting to evolve anytime soon so I didn't do anything about my wardrobe until now!" 

"C'mon! We're going to be late if we keep messing around!" Altaria motioned towards the door with her head, a wavering jingle filling the air as a result of the jewelry around her neck. "Just think of how it's going to look to your village friends when you show up thirty minutes late with less than two legs! I'm sure Vallion's going to start getting upset if we string this along any further!" 

"Pfft. What's he going to do, get married without me?" The Delphox pulled the final knots out of her fur and hopped up onto her staff. Even now, she was still trying to get used to the shift of pressure in her temples when she had to support her own weight. It had taken a few days to settle in, but the fatigue of constant telekinesis was getting pretty bad. "But yeah, this is good enough. It's not like I'm ever going to make myself look any better... Geez, how are we even going to dance?" 

The halls of the Expedition Society were deserted. Orange light filtered in through distant windows and bounced all the way through the corridor, a telling sign of how low the sun was situated in the sky. Everyone must have been out in the courtyard if it was this quiet already. Despite Altaria's fussing, which only seemed to get worse after they got home, Panne took a leisurely pace into the main chamber. She only made it halfway to the center before the wafting scent of the kitchen stopped the Delphox in her tracks. Something delicious was in the air, and if they were late already, what would a few extra minutes do? 

"Paa-aanne!" Altaria gave a shrill reminder. 

"It's just one peek! What harm is it gonna do? You gotta lighten up or you're the one that's going to end up having a heart attack," Panne assured the dragon as she started towards the dining hall. 

Mawile merely shrugged and followed along. "I mean, she's right. Weren't you the one who said that Panne has to take it easy from here on? Rushing straight into the courtyard into so many faces would definitely be overstimulating. Might as well take this thing one step at a time, right?" 

"I- But- You quit doing that!" The dragon's talons stamped on the tiles as she hurried after them. "You know I only want tonight to run as smoothly as possible! After these last few weeks, I don't know how much more my heart can take..." 

As they drew closer to the kitchen, the sweet smell only grew more pungent and distinct. Swirlix's ramblings echoed well into the hall. "...So what? It's an event, and events need proper catering! You can't tell me you'd rather go without food, would you?" 

A deeper voice responded. "I'm just saying we ought to be making actual food and not the FIVE cakes you've already made. I want something of substance, you know? Not all of us can eat the equivalent of three pounds of sugar in the matter of an hour and not want to die." Panne floated past the corner to see Swirlix fumbling about with a few utensils, the back of Vallion's head as he tried his best to manage the fairy, and only three of the five cakes that he mentioned. 

Panne considered trying to sneak up on the Serperior, but with Altaria jingling around close behind, she'd have a better chance at waking a hibernating Ursaring. "See?" The Delphox said as she dismounted her staff and used it to support her one good leg in one swift motion. "Told you we wouldn't be missing out on anything!" 

As soon as Vallion turned his head, the wrinkles of stress on his face began to soften up. "Ah. If I had known you were going to look so beautiful, I'd have picked something out myself. Now I just feel underdressed." 

"Yeah, you really don't need to go that far, Val. I already know that I look like garbage." Even so, Panne glanced down and motioned to flatten the fur beneath her dress once again. At least it flowed nicely around her legs, despite the fact that one leg was completely limp and smothered in bandages. 

"Hush. That's enough of that, silly," the Serperior slithered towards her and nuzzled beneath her chin, gentle enough not to push her over outright. Panne pushed into him and wrapped her free arm around his neck, pulling herself up off the ground. Val hardly even buckled as he took on all of her weight, coiling around her in an embrace. His scales brushed over the fabric of her dress as he squeezed, and the dense muscles he was squeezing with effortlessly planted more than one involuntary thought into her head. The Delphox quickly found herself breathless again. 

"Are you sure you don't just want, like, six cakes?" Swirlix chimed in with a mouthful of something. "Seriously, if you tried one of these things I'm sure you'd want more just in case. There's even sitrus berries baked into them, just like you like! I'm on kind of a sitrus kick right now so I gotta make more anyway." 

When Vallion spoke, Panne could feel his voice travel all the way through her chest. "No thank you, seriously. You can make more cakes, but just bring out some real food first. alright? Sides and entrées and all that. I have to run back outside because I'm a terrible host. Can you get right on that, please?" 

"Mmmm-I guess so... I still think cake is what you need more of, though." the fairy mumbled as she hopped back to work. There were only two and a half cakes remaining by the time everyone else had left the kitchen. 

Panne rode on the Serperior's back all the way until the door to the courtyard itself, leaning the side of her head against his neck and staring out into nothing. Val nudged at her with a vine, urging her off before they rode out into the actual celebration. The Delphox sighed and hopped up onto her staff, but she conceded that it'd be tiring and awkward if he had to carry her around the whole time. As the double doors swung open, the setting sun shined straight into her eyes, and the sound of jubilant conversation was carried over on the wind. The particular voices she heard made her ears perk forward. 

"There you guys are," Mismagius appeared beside them, looking outwards with them as if he'd been waiting by the door. "People were starting to get anxious, wondering where the two big stars of the party were. Get your fur caught in a knot?" 

"No, of course I didn't!" Panne lied. "Hmph. I guess you don't deserve the full blame, though. You aren't a lady. You wouldn't understand how long it takes to get ready for these sorts of things." 

Mawile chuckled. "As if you're really all that lady-like to begin with, Panne." 

Just as the Delphox sucked in a breath to respond, a tingling sensation broke out on the back of her head, and with it came a voice. 'I have no idea how you managed to be the one who's late to the party when you literally live on the same property as it.' 

"Meowstic!" Panne forgot about what she was going to say and rushed further into the courtyard. 

Before she could reach the bulk of the celebration, the psychic type walked out from behind a hedge and regarded her with wide eyes and a smile. "And if time is moving at the same speed for the both of us, why does it seem like you went through three years in the three weeks you were gone? To think that the both of you managed to evolve in that short a time is insane. You better not be planning on getting older than me!" 

"Stress makes you age faster, it's not my fault!" Panne grumbled, then glanced away. "And, uh. I- I'm sorry about the note thing. I know I left without saying anything, and I know I was being-" 

'Hush,' the psychic voice filled her temples in an instant. The psychic type shook her head and spoke from her own mouth instead. "Come on, most of us knew you were going to disappear once anything came up. You've been doing it since you were a kid, remember? You exclusively leave the village by sneaking out. And nobody blames you for snapping, dummy. You had good reason." 

Though the Delphox exhaled in relief, a tiny pocket of hysteria came with it. "Aw geez, seriously? I've been worrying about that since I left! Now I feel all dumb and silly...Dammit, thanks for forgiving me." She dismounted the staff and leaned against it, only to gather a strange look. "...What?" 

"Does stress break your legs, too?" Meowstic's head tilted. "Wait, did I say 'break a leg' at all before you left? I feel like I might have. I didn't mean for you to take it literally, I swear." 

A chuckle bubbled up in her chest. "No, bad ideas break legs. And not only is this leg broken, it's completely disconnected from my nervous system, so I'll never be able to use it again. So yeah, lots of poor choices." 

"Excuse me?" Sawsbuck said as she stepped forward, Sliggoo following close behind as usual. "What the hell, Panne? First thing I hear you say is that you've permanently lost an entire leg? You can't just drop that on us right as we're supposed to be celebrating something, you doofus!" 

"That's what I was saying earlier!" Altaria quickly joined in. "It's definitely not something you'd just tell people while you're sending them invitations, so I knew she was going to have to break the ice with it. What else can you even do? That's kind of a big deal, you know?" 

As soon as Vallion caught up with them, the conversation fell away, and all attention turned to him. Panne had noticed that he seemed to gather far more stares than when he was a Servine. not just around his friends, but out in town where there wasn't any particular reason for him to stand out. Though she hadn't seen too many Serperior in her life, Panne was starting to believe that the supposed aura that surrounded the species might not actually be entirely in her head. 

"Vallion, you're looking great!" commented Sawsbuck once the strange moment of awe had passed. "A lot better than before, really. I've been worried for you ever since you guys left, and that one letter really didn't tell me much." She shot an accusing glance at Panne, who suddenly remembered how abruptly she departed. "Anyways, you were really out of it back there. The amnesia's all cleared up, right?" 

"I sorta don't even remember having amnesia at all," Val said with a slight tilt to his head. "It was just one moment straight to the next, no context or warning or anything. I only know what's been told to me, and even then everyone's been all vague about it." 

The Delphox bit her lip. "I told you, I'll explain all that junk in actual detail later. There just hasn't really been a time where I've felt ready to get into that since it's...it's still a mouthful." Her right wrist start to itch as if there was still a scarf wrapped around it. 

Further into the courtyard were the rest of the faces Panne had been missing. She dove onto Carracosta's back without a second thought, who twisted around and scooped her up in kind. Once the warm introductions were over, Pops tried to set her down once more, and the topic of what happened to her leg immediately sprung back up as she nearly crumpled to the ground. With Mawile's help she was able to explain most of the injury, but the look of concern on Carracosta's face quickly burned into the back of her eyelids. It was a hard conversation to steer away from, and would have continued to be so had Archeops and Nuzleaf not sauntered over to join in on the commotion. 

To the Delphox's delight, this was also the first time she had seen Bunnelby in a long, long time. He had returned to his old home with a lover of the same species by his side--the reason he left the Society in the first place. He spoke of the children they had back at their nest on the northern side of the continent, and how one was already old enough to watch the others while they were away. 

Accelgor had also managed to make it in time, despite issues with the invitation. His lover was unsurprisingly the Ninjask that had been zipping around the party asking everyone outlandish questions. Much to Accelgor's apparent exasperation, Ninjask seemed a little too interested in the concept of marriage, wanting to drain every ounce of Vallion's knowledge on the subject despite how little he actually knew about the real thing. Her enthusiasm was coupled with the heightened buzzing of her wings, and soon the party had no choice but to be centered around the topic of Val's strange courtship ritual. 

Rather than join in, Pangoro could be seen skulking around the outskirts of the garden. He eventually started to urge Sliggoo away from the commotion, pushing him towards the edge of the courtyard where Floatzel and Kadabra were already waiting. While Floatzel leaned against the hedge with his arms cross and his expression fierce, Kadabra looked like she wanted nothing to do with what was going on, fidgeting non-stop and angling herself away. Panne couldn't resist the curiosity and angled her ears towards the group, keeping an inconspicuous distance away. 

Though it took some concentration, the Delphox managed to hone in on Pangoro's voice. "...Ridiculous! How can you even stand to be here? Doesn't it bug you at all?" 

Sliggoo hummed. "Not really. I really have no idea what you're are talking about. Why is it a bad thing that other people are allowed to love each other?" 

"Because we have no one!" Floatzel snapped back. "You're saying this kind of thing has never gotten under your skin at all? Like, especially right now, when everyone's rubbing it in so much? This entire party is based around something we don't have! Why are we even here to begin with?" 

"To support our friends?" said Sliggoo. "I dunno, it sounds to me like you guys have some problems." 

"What?! We don't have any problems!" Pangoro slammed his foot down. "Kadabra, help us out here! You're part of this, too! You at least know what's wrong with all this!" 

"I-I just wanted to eat some cake and meet some of the pokemon from Serene Village," the psychic type said as she shied away another few inches. 

At some point during her eavesdropping, Panne had lost sight of the Serperior entirely. That alone was surprising, considering how much he stood out from the rest of the pokemon here. He couldn't have gotten far, though, and he certainly couldn't have snuck right past her back into the compound. The Delphox excused herself from the bulk of the party and left the courtyard altogether, levitating out into the empty brick streets beside the docks. Once the buzz of conversation was nothing but a distant mumble behind her, she could finally start to hear the gentle crash of the ocean. 

Panne found the Serperior coiled up at the edge, eyes locked firmly onto the glistening waves. What was left of the sunset smouldered away, making way for the abyssal violet that crept across the sky one inch at a time. The warmth that had sunk into the ground throughout the day was in the process of being swept away by the chilly breeze that whipped at her dress. Panne made her way over and set herself down next to him, her good leg braced against a rock to keep herself from falling right into the water. "How'd you even get away from Ninjask?" she said to announce her presence. 

"Very carefully," Vallion muttered at the end of a breath. He shifted in place to move closer to her. "I really have no idea what I'm doing, Panne. I honestly don't. I can't think of what to do after the scarves, and I've been thinking about this moment for years. I get that there's a party, but what else? What's the marriage part of it all? I didn't get to this part in my dreams." 

"That's easy. We'll just make it up as we go," The Delphox said with a shrug. "It's really not a big deal what we do as long as it feels like it matters, I think. I mean, you're the only human here, and it's not like you haven't been living as a pokemon this whole time. There's not much reason in trying to fully copy something you're not even supposed to know about in the first place. We're at a point where we have to make up where we go from here, you know? Make the ceremony about us and not about what humans used to do." 

The Serperior huffed. "Well, what do we do that matters?" 

"I- uhh." The question hung in front of her like a wall. Though she could think of a few immediate answers, none of them really stood out as being particularly worthy of all this trouble. It had to be a gesture or an oath or something, though she supposed a gesture could basically mean the same thing as an oath. And they already had the Harmony Scarves... "Um. We could maybe trade our scarves around? I guess?" 

"What do you mean?" 

The Delphox bit her tongue trying to put the thought together. "I mean we could just take the one we're wearing right now and just kinda...give it to the other person. Okay look--I know it sounds stupid, and that's because it really kinda is, but my train of thought here is that we've already been wearing these things for the better part of a month. Er, mostly I have- Whatever, let's just get into that and just pretend that we've both been wearing our prospective scarves this whole time. We've probably developed some kinda sense of ownership over them, right? Like a feeling that this is MY scarf around my neck, mine and not yours. So what if for the ceremony we just switched 'em?" 

"Mm..." Vallion stared up at the clouds. "I do kind of like that." 

"Yeah, it oughta work out! What's yours is mine and mine is yours and all that! I can barely even tell the scarves apart anyway, so it's not like we're making a particularly huge jump, but at least it means something." Panne's chest tightened beneath her dress as she thought back to the jungle, recalling how difficult it had been to get Vallion to wear his in the first place. Despite her best efforts to keep those recent memories suppressed, there were hundreds of little things that kept reminding her of what happened. She kept her eyes locked on the fading horizon as well, scared of what she'd see if she looked at the Serperior's face. 

Val broke the silence himself. "Alright. Tonight's simple enough, but what about afterwards?" 

"What do you mean afterwards? Like, what we do tomorrow?" 

"What we do from here on," he said with a sniffle. "That's what we were talking about before all of this started happening. We never really figured out what we were going to do after the vacation." 

Panne's ears folded backwards. "Ugh. I don't like thinking about it still. We're probably going to have to hunt down more of those Spiritombs before they can become a problem and I'm not looking forward to it." The Delphox felt him nuzzle into her cheek. She responded by leaning against him, finding more than enough to wrap her arms around. 

"I don't think we have to." he whispered. "There's plenty of other adventuring guilds out there that we can dump that problem onto, and I'm sure some might actually want to do that sort of thing. We've already done enough as it is." Vallion placed his head in the crook of her shoulder and continued to stare out into the distance. Two-thirds of the sky had darkened into that deep violet, and in the sun's wake came the tiny twinkles of stars just bright enough to overcome what light was left. "You still think you're going to become like Alexander?" 

A scoff escaped her throat. "Yeah, no. That's not going to happen anymore. As much as that worry was about getting bored and neurotic, I'm pretty sure I'd need all of my legs to become a proper tyrant. I just need a freakin' vacation for once, that's all. None of this sudden demon ghost stuff." 

"Yeah, that was pretty unlucky," Vallion admitted on the same breath as a sigh. He shifted over a bit out of Panne's peripheral view, and the next moment she felt his nose poke beneath the arm opposite to where he was sitting. The Serperior wrapped around her chest, pulled her close against the main coil of his body, then came to rest his chin in the crook of her neck after one last half-loop. She couldn't help but lean her head against his, her heart fluttering around in her chest all the while. All the Delphox really wanted were moments like these, where nothing was going on around her and she could simply enjoy being next to the most wonderful pokemon in the world. 

There was barely an orange shade on the eastern horizon by the time someone came looking for them, and it was still one of the last people Panne expected. Swirlix came bounding out of the courtyard with a plate somehow balanced on the top of her head, screaming for Vallion specifically. The fairy came to a screeching halt just before she would have launched herself into the water, and threw the plate down in front of them. On it was a single slice of sitrus cake. "Vallion you have to try the cake NOW!" 

"Why do I have to try-" 

"Because it's incredible! That's why! You better get back to the party right now or I'm going to eat all eight of the cakes!" Just as soon as she had come, Swirlix barreled off towards the courtyard once more and disappeared behind the hedges. 

Panne giggled. "I guess you're trying the cake, then." 

"Eight cakes? Seriously..." Vallion shook his head before he finally gave in and extended his vines to at least get the cake off of the ground. It took another few contemplative moments for him to even consider actually taking a bite of the cake. The Delphox couldn't quite stifle her laugher as he slowly chewed the his bite, seemingly deep in thought about it. 

"What's the matter?" she said with a chuckle. "Did she put too much philosophy in the frosting or something?" 

"Hm." The Serperior lowered the plate. "I'm not sure why, but it tastes kind of off. I mean, obviously it's a great cake and all, but I'm not so sure about these sitrus berries is all." 

Panne's breath caught in her throat like a stone. 

"I guess we've kept them waiting long enough if they're already scarfing down cake, huh?" Vallion spoke up as he uncoiled himself out from around her. Panne managed to stand on her own with the help of her staff, but she never stopped staring at the Serperior's face. Instead of fearing how his face might have settled differently, she actively tried to pluck out what seemed like changes. He merely smiled at her in response. "Yeah?" 

"Ah-nothing. It's nothing," she said, planting a quick kiss on his nose. "Come on, let's go trade our scarves and finally get to dancing. I've got some new stuff I wanna show you since I've evolved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After nearly two years of time, 487 college-ruled notebook pages of rough draft, several editors, and a great deal of horizontal progress and eventual (hopeful) improvement, TMoM is finally finished. It's difficult to express just how much it means to me that someone could be reading this after finishing this huge, flawed, otherwise nearly unremarkable piece of text that I have been slaving over for no good reason other than my loyality to an imaginary character. I expected myself to get this far through just time and effort alone, but it still feels like a dream to finally be at the end. I really hope I at least wrote up a few scenes that managed to inspire. Whatever I end up writing next, I hope that I'll be able to surpass what I've done here and keep writing garbage that people enjoy.
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> == **SPECIAL DOGGO THANKS** ==
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> Vryheid
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> _For savagely tearing into my prose so hard that I still feel bad about it, and all the learning which followed_  
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> Jorgel
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> _For being a spacemagnetslowburnfiremanboy_  
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> OrangeCitrin
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> _For reminding me that what I'm doing isn't worthless_  
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> _A whole bunch of other fags from the /vpwt/ who encouraged and supported me_  
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> _And everyone who took the precious time to comment and give me their thoughts and opinions, whether praise or criticism_  
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> == **SHORT LIST OVER** ==
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> For additional autism, you can make me feel embarrassed by browsing the culminative shit taste of **The Official TMoM Soundtrack** , made with a huge splattering of copyrighted music and really pretentious, vague titles. This is basically just the collection of songs I listened to whenever I wanted to express a certain feeling in my text, all ordered in a real gay anime-ost format and attributed mostly to specific scenes.
> 
>  
> 
> _https://pastebin.com/0inJxAmd_  
> 


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